The routine five-day Basslink outage scheduled from 18 March poses no threat to Tasmania’s energy security.

Hydro Tasmania’s Total Energy in Storage stands at about 40 per cent, which is a very secure level for this time of year.

The CEO of Hydro Tasmania, Steve Davy, said the company has also been running the Combined Cycle Gas Turbine at the Tamar Valley Power Station, when required, since January.

“We have plenty of hydropower, wind and gas generation available to power Tasmania self-sufficiently during the five-day outage,” Mr Davy said.

“There have been several planned and routine Basslink outages in its 10-year history – mostly for maintenance reasons. They’re normal for such a significant asset.

“It’s natural that such routine outages may attract more attention than previous years, given the energy supply challenge of 2015/16.

“Thanks to strong winter rain and careful management, Hydro Tasmania greatly exceeded its storage target of 40 per cent at the start of summer.

“Subject to average inflows, we’ve set a storage target of at least 30 per cent on 30 June 2017. We don’t expect any difficulties in meeting that target,” Mr Davy said.

At the start of this week (Monday 6 March), Hydro Tasmania storages stood at 40.1 per cent. They’re gradually declining at a routine and secure rate for this time of year.

Ends.

Released for Hydro Tasmania by Rowan Dix, (03) 62305330 / 0409 722359 / media@hydro.com.au.