Hydro Tasmania continues to feel the impact of the ongoing drought with storages recording the second worst six-month period on record for rainfall.
The worst period was in 2006/2007.
Hydro Tasmania’s Manager Energy Resources David Marshall said inflows into hydro storages for April were just below the average for the month.
“Inflows into our storages were close to average but came on the back of five pretty dry months to leave them sitting at under 19 per cent.
“This means that the drought has been going on for three years and continues to impact not only on hydro storages but communities and businesses around the State.”
Mr Marshall said although May and June historically could be very dry months, initial forecasts for May are encouraging.
He said Hydro Tasmania remained confident it would continue to meet demand despite the impact of the drought with Basslink continuing to play a key role. Last month, 291 Gigawatt hours were imported across Basslink compared to less than one GWh exported. 106GWh were generated by the Bell Bay gas-fired power station.
“Basslink has been crucial to maintaining security of supply in Tasmania,” Mr Marshall said. “Without Basslink our storages would be significantly lower and there would be a significant risk of some form of power restrictions.
The impact of the drought continued to have a significant financial impact on Hydro Tasmania.
ends