The Prime Minister is visiting the state’s flood-hit north and northwest on Wednesday as well as Hobart for a major announcement.
The Tasmanian and Federal Governments have signed an agreement to deliver the new Marinus power cables across Bass Strait, paving the way for Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation ambitions to become a reality.
Tasmania, Victoria and Canberra will jointly fund 20 per cent of Marinus’ multibillion-dollar cost, while loans from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will fund the rest.
“Rewiring the Nation has always been about jobs in new energy industries, delivering cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy, and bringing down emissions – today it begins doing just that,” said Anthony Albanese.
“An electricity grid built for the 21st century is absolutely critical, but until the election in May there was no plan to deliver, let alone to do so at lowest cost for consumers.”
Linking Tasmanian wind farms to mainland power consumers will cut an estimated 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide output by 2050, equivalent to taking one million cars off the road.
It’s estimated to create 1400 jobs in Tasmania during construction and nearly 700 ongoing.
The arrangement includes $1 billion worth of low-cost loans for Pumped hydro at Lake Cethana and a revamp of the Tarraleah power station.
“Importantly, equitable cost sharing arrangements between the Commonwealth, Tasmania and Victoria have been agreed, meaning that Tasmanian consumers will only pay their fair share,” said State Energy Minister Guy Barnett.
“This low cost financing from Rewiring the Nation will reduce the annual cost of Project Marinus for electricity customers by up to half.”
