Basslink’s undersea power cable between Tasmania and Victoria will take an additional six weeks to fix.
The Basslink cable has been out of service since the end of March 2018, when a contractor in Victoria damaged a piece of equipment during routine maintenance.
It was due to come back online on Saturday 14 April 2018, but Basslink released a statement advising it will now not be back in service until 31 May.
According to Hydro Tasmania, Tasmania is well-placed to manage the Basslink outage.
“The extended Basslink outage is not ideal. But it doesn’t meaningfully affect Tasmania’s energy security,” Hydro Tasmania CEO, Steve Davy, said.
“Autumn has produced good above-average inflows so far. We expect to manage comfortably without the ability to import.
“Hydro Tasmania storages were at 37 per cent on Monday (9 April 2018). That’s an extremely secure level as we approach the wettest months of the year. It’s also well above the High Reliability Level set by the Energy Security Taskforce.”
The Combined Cycle Gas Turbine at the Tamar Valley Power Station is not currently operating, but is available at 10 days’ notice.
The station also has about 150MW of quickly-accessible gas generation.
Premier of Tasmania, Will Hodgman, said the latest update from Basslink in terms of the return to service of the cable is very disappointing.
“I would however like to make it very clear – there is no threat to Tasmania’s energy security.
“Through the government’s prudent approach to energy security following on from the Energy Security Taskforce recommendations we are well placed to manage such events,” Mr Hodgman said.
“Basslink plays an important role in Tasmania’s energy security and I urge Basslink to spare no effort in accelerating its return to service.”
