A years-long dispute between the Tasmanian Government and operators of the underwater Basslink interconnector, Basslink Pty Ltd (BPL), has been resolved with the company successfully purchased by APA Group for $773 million.
In 2015 both the Tasmanian Government and Hydro Tasmania sued BPL for damages following a lengthy outage of its Basslink interconnector due to thermal overstressing caused by the company’s operational practices.
After five years of legal arbitration, High Court Chief Justice, Robert French, found in favour of the Government, awarding $70 million in damages and ordering BPL to take measures against further outages. In 2021 Hydro Tasmania terminated its Basslink Services Agreement with BPL, forcing the company into receivership.
Now, natural-gas producer APA Group has committed to purchasing BPL in a $773 million deal that will resolve much of BPL’s ongoing legal disputes, which includes payment to Hydro Tasmania of an agreed financial settlement in relation to disputed amounts owed to Hydro Tasmania in connection with the Basslink Services Agreement (which was terminated earlier this year).
APA will also progress technical improvements to Basslink, including implementation of the mitigating actions required by the 2020 Arbitration process.
Hydro Tasmania looks forward to working with APA as they move Basslink to a sustainable footing where it will continue to play an important role in energy security as well as providing trading opportunities for the business.
