Snowy Hydro's federal takeover refuels debate over 2.0's viability

Snowy 2.0 is a big enough venture to create its own watershed of cheers and jeers.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's pet project to expand
 the Snowy Hydro scheme is going to cost billions more.

The federal buyout of $6.221 billion - split two-thirds for NSW, one-third for Victoria - to acquire the 87 per cent of Snowy Hydro shares not held by the Commonwealth was cheered by the respective state governments. With virtually no strings attached, they are naturally gleeful.

No doubt the engineering firms eyeing the construction of a 27-kilometre tunnel linking two existing dams are among those excited by the overnight news of the federal takeover.

By drilling a tunnel connection between an upper and a lower reservoir, water can be pumped higher when electricity is cheap and plentiful, and released to run through hydro generators when it is not. The tunnel's diameter will need to be as large as 12 meters to reduce friction loss and keep overall energy loss to about 20 per cent.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in The Age - “Snowy Hydro's federal takeover refuels debate over 2.0's viability.”

(Snowy 2.0 is about the centralization of energy when what an Australia able to endure the rigours of climate sensitive 21st Century need is quite the reverse - a decentralised power structure to be found in wind and solar and other renewable sources. Snowy 2.0 is rooted in hydro power (a renewable source) and that is to be applauded, but economically is compares badly to the other forms of energy that can be secured in more diversified forms.

Also, as climate change worsens and the weather, and the water upon which Snowy 2.0 depends becomes less predictable and reliable, the enthusiastic whopping and hollering of Malcolm Turnbull and his acolytes maybe drowned out by a chorus of complaints.

The $billions being spent to Snowy 2.0 should be applied to creating truly decentralized power system through which the “power” is handed back to the people - Robert McLean)

China will finance Adani mine, insiders say, but it will cost Australian jobs

The Adani Group is close to securing finance for its controversial coal mine and railway project in outback Queensland, with an announcement expected in coming weeks that Chinese state-owned enterprises, banks, and export credit agencies are backing the venture.

China's money could mean Adani no longer
needs a loan from the Australian Government.

Australian taxpayers may be let off the hook under the deal, which could mean Adani no longer requires an Australian Government-subsidised loan of up to $1 billion for the railway it needs to transport the coal to port.

But China's money will come at the cost of local jobs.

Chinese enterprises and export credit agencies invariably require that materials for key infrastructure are sourced from China, effectively shifting work out of Australia and undermining Adani's claims its project will create many thousands of additional jobs for Queensland.

Read the story by Stephen Long on ABC News - “China will finance Adani mine, insiders say, but it will cost Australian jobs.”

‘Held to ransom': Esso-BHP gas production drop to be examined by ACCC

The competition watchdog will demand ESSO and BHP Billiton explain in more detail why gas supplies from its Bass Strait joint venture will decline sharply next year amid concerns the nation is "being held to ransom”.

Under scrutiny: A big drop in expected gas
 supplies from the Bass Strait has the ACCC
drilling for more information.

There are also calls for acting resources minister Barnaby Joyce to make public a study into offshore gas resources he has had for more than a month that could shed light on the venture's future.

The Turnbull government has so far blamed soaring gas prices on governments in Victoria and NSW for blocking or stalling on new gasfields, and in Queensland for allowing excessive LNG exports.

But by far the biggest contributor to the projected national shortfall of 55-108 petajoules of gas in 2018 will be the 86pj drop from the Esso-BHP's record output of 330pj  this year, according to a recent  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “‘Held to ransom': Esso-BHP gas production drop to be examined by ACCC.”