Snowy Hydro

Snowy Hydro Limited

Type	Corporation
Industry	Energy
Founded	1949 (1949) as Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority 2001 (2001) as Snowy Hydro Limited[1]
Headquarters	Cooma, New South Wales, Australia
Area served	New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory
Key people	Bruce Hogan AM (Chairman) Pual Broad (Managing Director and CEO)
Products	Electricity generation
Services	Electricity retailing, bulk water management
Revenue	A$1.201 billion (2013) [2]
Operating income	A$400 million (2013)[2]
Net income	A$280 million (2013)[2]
Total assets	A$2.424 billion (2013)[2]
Total equity	A$1,795 billion (2013)[2]
Owner(s)	Commonwealth Government (13%), Government of New South Wales (58%) and Government of Victoria (29%)
Employees	650
Subsidiaries	Red Energy Pty. Limited and Valley Power Pty Limited
Website	www.snowyhydro.com.au

Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme which consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connected by 145 kilometres (90 mi) of tunnels and 80 kilometres (50 mi) of aqueducts located mainly in the Kosciuszko National Park. Snowy Hydro also owns and operates two gas-fired power stations in Victoria.

The company is jointly owned by the Commonwealth (13%), New South Wales (58%) and Victorian (29%) governments and whilst not a statutory corporation, is established by the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Power Act 1949 (Cth). Prior to its incorporation under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the company was previously known as Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority.

Generating assets

The company manages the Snowy Mountains Scheme which generates on average around 4,500 gigawatt hours of clean, renewable energy each year, which is around 37% of all renewable energy in the mainland National Electricity Market in 2010.

The company owns an electricity and gas retailer, Red Energy which operates in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, a 300 MW gas-fired peaking power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley and a 320MW gas-fired peaking power station at Laverton North near Melbourne. The company's production assets are summarised in the table below. These assets are used to generate electricity for sale under contract to the National Electricity Market.

The company has continued to grow with investment into Snowy Scheme modernisation projects, cloud seeding, development of mini hydro opportunities such as the 14MW Jounama mini hydro and growth of its retailer, Red Energy. In addition Snowy Hydro is seeking to expand its gas-fired power station portfolio. This strategy is aimed at reducing risks to the business due to its reliance on water as an energy source, and due to the Snowy Mountains Scheme's geographical isolation on the electricity grid making it subject to transmission constraints in some circumstances

Water storage and diversion

As part of the company's responsibilities for managing the Snowy Mountain Scheme, Snowy Hydro Limited also collects, stores, and diverts water for irrigation from the Snowy Mountains catchment west to the Murray and Murrumbidgee River systems under what is called the Snowy Water Licence. Granted as part of the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act, 1997 (NSW) for fixed five year terms, this licence prescribes the rights and obligations on the company with respect to the collection, diversion, storage, use, and release of water within the Snowy area. The Snowy Water Licence also imposes some obligations on the company in terms of releasing environmental flows east into the Snowy River and other rivers in the Snowy Mountains region.

Proposed public divestment

In December 2005, the NSW Government announced it would sell its 58% share in Snowy Hydro, expecting to yield A$1 billion.^[3] The Federal^[4] and Victorian^[5] governments had followed suit, announcing by mid-February 2006 the intent to sell their 13% and 29% respectively, with A$1.7 billion (ranging up to A$3 billion)^[6][7] expectations through a public float.^[5] Pre-registration for shares in Snowy Hydro opened in mid May and it was expected that the float would take place some time in July. Over 200,000 people pre-registered to purchase shares in the company over two weeks.

On 2 June 2006, the Federal Government announced that it would no longer sell its 13% stake in the project, effectively forcing the hands of the New South Wales and Victorian governments to follow suit. The aborted sale followed strong opposition from the public, including government MPs and prominent Australians.^[8][9][7]

Current market position

Since privatisation was cancelled in 2006, the company has continued to grow with investment into Snowy Scheme modernisation projects, cloud seeding, development of mini hydro opportunities such as the 14MW Jounama mini hydro and growth of its retailer, Red Energy.

In addition Snowy Hydro is seeking to expand its gas-fired power station portfolio. This strategy is aimed at reducing risks to the business due to its reliance on water as an energy source, and due to the Snowy Mountains Scheme's geographical isolation on the electricity grid making it subject to transmission constraints in some circumstances.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Snowy Mountains Scheme

References

External links

• Construction Images
• Snowy Hydro company website
• Audiovisual titles relating to the building of the Snowy Hydro Scheme on australianscreen