Tasmanians are invited to take a closer look at how pumped hydro could help double Tasmania’s clean energy and provide the lowest possible power prices in coming years.

Hydro Tasmania is hosting six community information sessions around the state to share more information about the Battery of the Nation initiative and hear from the community.

The sessions will focus on pumped hydro storage – with Hydro Tasmania recently identifying 14 options as the state’s best pumped hydro opportunities.

Hydro Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation Project Director, Chris Gwynne, said social, economic and technical assessments of these options are now starting, and those assessments will help narrow the options further.

“We’re deliberately holding these sessions in areas close to the 14 pumped hydro options. We’re very keen to hear the views of locals, provide more detail about pumped hydro and answer questions from the community,” Mr Gwynne said.

“Tasmania has huge natural advantages, and doubling our clean energy capacity will help us meet our own power needs, keep prices as low as possible, and support mainland Australia as it transitions off coal power. Pumped hydro will form a huge part of that. It represents the next generation of Tasmanian hydropower, and lets us re-use our hydro water again and again to create clean energy.

“Battery of the Nation isn’t just a Hydro Tasmania initiative; it’s a Tasmanian initiative to serve and support our communities. Keeping locals informed is one of our top priorities,” he said.

Session dates and times

Town	Location	Date	Times
Cressy	Cressy Community Centre	Wednesday July 25	11.30am - 2pm
Bothwell	Castle Hotel, Old Bookies Hall	Thursday July 26	10am – 2pm
Rosebery	Rosebery Community House	Wednesday August 1	2pm – 5pm
Queenstown	West Coast Community Services Hub Training Room	Thursday August 2	3pm – 6.30pm
Sheffield	Sheffield Town Hall Supper Room	Wednesday August 8	3.30pm - 7.00pm
Lorinna	Lorinna Community Hall	Thursday August 30	2pm – 3pm

Early modelling shows Battery of the Nation would create billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs in regional Tasmania over 10 to 15 years. There’s more information about pumped hydro on Hydro Tasmania’s website. 

Ends.

Released for Hydro Tasmania by Rowan Dix, (03) 6230 5330 / 0409 722 359 / media@hydro.com.au.