On 16 March 2017, Snowy Hydro announced its proposal to carry out a feasibility study into the expansion of the pumped hydro-electric storage in the Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy 2.0 project. Snowy 2.0 is a pumped hydro project that will increase generation capacity by up to 2000 megawatts, and at full capacity, will provide approximately 350 000 megawatt hours of energy storage. The headrace tunnel will run 17 km from Tantangara Reservoir to an underground powerhouse cavern near the Snowy Mountains Highway midway between Kiandra and Yarrangobilly, and a 9km tailrace tunnel will run to join the Tumut River at Talbingo Reservoir.
The feasibility study is now complete. Following detailed and rigorous consideration, approval has been granted to progress the Snowy 2.0 project from feasibility stage towards final investment decision and to undertake further work and Project refinements.
Bamford Rock Testing Services has been involved in some of the rock testing for elements of this new scheme in the Snowy Mountains. This is very fitting as Dr Bill Bamford was involved in the Snowy 1.0! He worked on the Upper Tumut Scheme at Cabramurra in 1957, and in 1959 he worked as the resident geologist on the Tantangara Dam and Murrumbidgee-Eucumbene Tunnel. While testing rocks from the Ravine Beds Formation this year he remembered logging hundreds of metres of cores of the same rocks during 1959 and 1960!