Hydro Tasmania has clarified a statement made to today’s Parliamentary scrutiny hearings into Government Business Enterprises.

Discussing the positon of Hydro Tasmania’s storages and current imports of energy across Basslink, CEO Steve Davy noted that imports were supplying 40-50% of Tasmania’s energy demand.

This is not correct.

What Mr Davy intended to state was that the current level of import fluctuates between 30 – 40 per cent. For November, it was 38 per cent.

“While this is still a strong level of import, it’s not correct to say that Tasmania is importing half of its current energy requirements,” Mr Davy said.

“There is more than enough energy to meet Tasmanian demand despite the record dry of the past three months.”

Mr Davy today told the GBE scrutiny hearing that even if there are below average inflows to hydro storages through until next winter, there is enough energy to meet Tasmanian demand. In addition to water currently in storage, there will be additional inflows, wind generation and the import capacity of Basslink.

Mr Davy said storages currently stood at 26 per cent. This was similar to the level in June last year.

The past three months had been the driest on record with the Bureau of Meteorology highlighting the impact of an El Nino and activity over the Indian Ocean as the cause.

“We don’t employ weather forecasters, so we rely on advice from the Bureau of Meteorology,” Mr Davy said.

“Our understanding is that the influences causing the very dry conditions have eased somewhat and the forecast for summer is a return to more normal rainfall levels over the west coast which is home to some of our major storages.

“So we are hopeful in terms of rainfall and inflows to our storages. But we don’t run a business based on hope, which is why we are preparing for conditions to continue to be dry, in case they are.”

Ends.

Released by Samantha Meyer, 03 6230 5746