The Australian Government has allocated a $75 million funding grant for the delivery of the Marinus Link that will connect Tasmania to mainland Australia, together with the North West Transmission Developments in Tasmania, collectively known as Project Marinus.
The grant will support the completion of the Project Marinus Design and Approvals phase, through to a final investment decision (FID) targeted for 2024.
“Marinus Link will help provide everyday Australians with more secure and affordable power by unlocking Tasmania’s abundant, low-cost wind resources and dispatchable hydro energy storage and generation facilities,” said Marinus Link CEO Bess Clark .
“We thank the Tasmanian and Australian governments for this important funding and leadership support. The technical planning, stakeholder engagement, economic and environmental assessments, commercial and regulatory work that’s already well underway will continue to enable the project to commence construction in 2025.”
The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) Draft 2022 Integrated Systems Plan (ISP) lists Project Marinus as an actionable project in its 30-year optimal development path for electricity investment in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
It confirms the vital role interconnectors, including Marinus Link, and deep, long-duration hydro storage and dispatchable capacity will play in securing Australia’s rapid energy transition.
Marinus Link was again listed this year by Infrastructure Australia as a ‘high priority initiative’ as part of a more interconnected and reliable National Electricity Market.
The $3.5 billion interconnector is a proposed 1,500 MW electricity and telecommunications connection between Victoria and Tasmania.
Marinus Link involves approximately 255 kilometers of subsea HVDC cable and approximately 90 kilometers of underground HVDC cable. It will also include converter stations in Tasmania and Victoria, and approximately 240 kilometers of supporting HVAC transmission in North West Tasmania, known as the North West Transmission Developments.
The project is expected to unlock savings of at least 140 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050.