CEO Vince Hawksworth said that while the drought and 10 successive years of below average rainfall had severely impacted on Tasmania's hydro storages, any suggestion that widespread power blackouts were inevitable by the end of the year if the drought continued were wrong.
Some important facts raised in relation to story are:
* NEMMCO has stated that power supplies are secure in Tasmania with a surplus of electricity supply over the next 12 months.
* NEMMCO believes there are no issues of concern in terms of power generation levels in Tasmania over the next two years. Replying to the newspaper article, NEMMCO managing director Les Hosking said that the company has undertaken extensive studies into generation supplies within the past two months to ascertain generation levels.
* Hydro Tasmania has adopted a conservative energy trading strategy to protect its storages in times of drought and export renewable energy into the national market. In the first year of Basslink, drought has resulted in the company importing 1920GWh and exporting 450GWh with increased imports and additional gas costing Hydro Tasmania an additional $75M this year.
* Had Hydro Tasmania imported an additional 800GWh and not exported any power as suggested by The Australian, its storages would have been around 24% compared to the 19% they are now and the added cost to the business would have been unsustainable.
* Power exported from Tasmania to Victoria across Basslink on January 16 this year helped restore supplies in that State that had been cut as a result of a bushfire.
* Without Basslink, Tasmania would have been facing the distinct prospect of power restrictions this winter as its storages would have been around 6% lower.
Hawksworth said Hydro Tasmania had advised The Australian that its scenario depended on it not raining in Tasmania for the next seven months, which was highly unlikely.
'In the last two weeks our storages have increased by 2% alone because of rain. And it will rain again during winter and spring which will guarantee more than adequate power supplies and ensure the lights stay on in Tasmania,' he said. 'Even if we had another dry year like 2006, we would still be able to create enough to provide power to Tasmanian homes and businesses through a combination of the significant rainfall we would still receive, gas generation at Bell Bay and continuing Basslink imports.'
