Despite another challenging year with ongoing impacts from COVID-19, Hydro Tasmania has delivered significant achievements and a transformation of our business for the future.

Chairman Grant Every-Burns said Hydro Tasmania’s annual profit of $217 million was comfortably above the corporate target, driven by favourable trading conditions in the National Electricity Market, and a strong dividend return will be delivered for the people of Tasmania.

“This is a solid and pleasing outcome in a year of below average inflows. We also maintained a secure level of energy, exceeding our storage targets and consistently remaining above the required High Reliability Level,” Mr Every-Burns said.

“We continued our strong support for the Tasmanian community through difficult times. We stepped up our COVID-19 support to help communities and our state recover. Our dedicated COVID-19 Recovery Program supported local business, not-for-profits and community groups with more than $200,000 in funding, bringing our total COVID-19 program funding to $450,000.

“We also saw significant progress for our Battery of the Nation ambitions, with Lake Cethana announced as our preferred site for pumped hydro development and a new future outlined for the Tarraleah hydropower scheme. The Tasmanian and Australian Governments confirmed their strong support for Tasmania’s energy future through a new agreement that sets out a pathway for realising this opportunity,” he said.

Hydro Tasmania’s Acting CEO Ian Brooksbank expressed his pride at the ongoing effort of Hydro Tasmania’s people to underpin another year of significant achievement.

“None of these results could be achieved without the passion, dedication and commitment of our people. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to cause disruption to our business, but our people adapted to ensure we kept the lights on in Tasmania,” Mr Brooksbank said.

“Our people continued to deliver for Tasmania through a period of business transformation. This realignment of our organisation will give us the agility to adapt to market disruption and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the clean energy transition.

“We saw adaption and innovation right across our business, with Momentum Energy and Entura again also delivering strong results for their customers,” he said.

Highlights from the 2020-21 Annual Report include:

• We reported another strong yearly result for the people of Tasmania, with a profit of $217 million, 20 per cent above our corporate target of $180 million.
• We continued to keep our people safe, achieving a below target Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) of 4.18.
• Our community support was recognised nationally, with the COVID-19 Recovery Program announced as the winner of the Clean Energy Council’s 2021 Community Engagement award.
• Our Net Trust Score increased – this is a measure of the trust the Tasmanian community places in us.
• Ongoing modernisation and maintenance of our hydropower generation assets, including significant progress on a multi-year $80 million refurbishment program for Trevallyn, Catagunya and Lake Echo power stations and the first stage of work on a $20 million upgrade to the Murchison Dam spillway capacity.
• Generation asset performance remained strong, with average portfolio availability above target for the year.
• It was a great year for Tasmania’s fauna, with Hydro Tasmania installing an innovative eel bypass, supporting research into curing mange in wombats and rediscovering a once-thought extinct species of crayfish in our waterways.
• The eel bypass at Trevallyn Dam won the Regional Infrastructure Project Award at the Australian Water Association (AWA) Tasmanian Water Awards.
• Through a number of new sponsorships and partnerships, we opened up opportunities in community sport, mentoring Tasmanian women in their careers, supporting young LGBTIQ+ tertiary students, new pathways for young people transitioning to employment and supporting mentally healthy workplaces.
• Momentum Energy grew, adding an additional 7,000 customer sites. This growth was underpinned by an expansion into the Queensland electricity market.
• Entura was appointed by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the panel of preferred service providers for the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP). This positions the business well for expanding the pipeline of power and water projects in the Pacific region.

Hydro Tasmania’s 2020-21 Annual Report was tabled in State Parliament today and is available on our website.

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