Snowy 2.0 could cost up to $25 billion, about 12 times its original price, according to a long-awaited reassessment of the hydropower project reported by ABC News. First power is now expected in early 2029, with full operation later that year.
Snowy Hydro released the reassessment on Thursday 22 October, the Guardian reported.
The cost has doubled since the last estimate, and full operation is a year later than expected, ABC News reported. The 2023 reset projected $12 billion and first power in late 2027, according to the ABC. The Guardian puts the 2023 revision at almost $13bn.
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How the Number Is Built
The outlets describe the new figure in different terms.
ABC News reported that Snowy Hydro set a target cost of $22 billion, allowing a further $3 billion if required.
The Guardian reported a cost of at least $22.2bn, with contingency taking it to $25bn.
The New Daily reported that Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes defended a $2.8 billion margin of error.
The figures come from a “line-by-line reassessment” by the contractor, Future Generation Joint Venture (FGJV), ABC News reported. It was released three months later than expected.
Where the Work Stands
The project links two existing reservoirs, Tantangara and Talbingo, through 27 kilometres of tunnels, with a power station about 800 metres underground, according to Snowy Hydro. ABC News puts its capacity at 2,200MW, and the Guardian reports 350,000 megawatt-hours of storage.
Sixty-five per cent of machine tunnelling and 90 per cent of cavern excavation are complete, and work on the underground power station is under way, ABC News reported. About 5,000 people are on the job, and Barnes says it is 80 per cent people costs.
The tunnel boring machine Florence got stuck in early 2023 for 11 months, according to ABC News. The Guardian reports it is still not at the halfway point of its 15km tunnel.
The Chief Executive’s Case
Barnes pointed back to where the project stood three years earlier. “We had a project that was stalled and had billions of dollars of claims on the table in 2023,” he said, ABC News reported.
He also cautioned against certainty. “There’s never any guarantees with mega projects. We’re doing a world-first thing in many respects in really complex conditions,” Barnes said, according to ABC News.
He described the difficulty in stronger terms in the Guardian’s report. “This project is incredibly complex, it is off the charts even for mega projects,” he said, according to the Guardian. “The silver lining is the project is beginning to hit its straps.”
An economic study by GHD found the project would add $18 billion to the economy during delivery and cut wholesale electricity costs by more than $7 billion by 2075, ABC News reported.
The Government’s Line
Energy minister Chris Bowen and finance minister Katy Gallagher blamed the former Coalition government for poor design and cost projections, the Guardian reported.
The ministers said finishing the project was the right call. “Completing Snowy 2.0 remains the responsible course … abandoning the project would undermine grid reliability, scrap 5,000 jobs and lead to higher bills,” they said, The New Daily reported.
The government plans to announce extra oversight and financing structures in the weeks ahead, and another injection of taxpayer funds is expected, the Guardian reported on 22 October.
A $2 Billion Promise, Revisited
Snowy 2.0 was announced in 2017. Its original budget was $2 billion, and it was meant to be operating by 2021, ABC News reported.
The reassessment released on Thursday 22 October puts the cost at up to $25 billion, with first power in early 2029 and full operation later that year.
More business and economy coverage is in our Financial archive.
Sources: ABC News, “Review finds delayed Snowy 2.0 hydropower project could cost up to $25b”, 22 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-22/cost-of-snowy-hydro-expansion-doubles/107276162); The Guardian, “Snowy Hydro 2.0 has blown out to 12 times its original cost: but the CEO says it ‘could have been worse’”, 22 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/22/snowy-hydro-2-0-blows-out-to-12-times-original-cost); The New Daily, “Snowy 2.0 could cost 12 times more than first planned”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2026/10/23/snowy-2-0-cost-blowouts); Snowy Hydro, Snowy 2.0, “About” (https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/about/)
Photo: Thennicke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Talbingo Reservoir in the Snowy Mountains, December 2018. Snowy 2.0 will join it to Tantangara Reservoir through about 27 kilometres of tunnels.
