The company behind the multi-billion-dollar Marinus Link interconnector project that will connect Tasmania to the national electricity grid in Victoria has lodged a development application (DA) for a converter station with Burnie City Council.
The Marinus Link project, a joint venture between the Australian, Tasmanian and Victorian governments, is a proposed undersea and underground electricity and data interconnector between northwest Tasmania and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.
The project was originally to deliver a 1,500 MW capacity interconnector but rising costs have prompted a shift in focus. The initial stage will now involve a single 750 MW high voltage direct current electrical interconnector that will augment the existing Tasmania to Victoria interconnector, Basslink.
The Marinus Link project is to include a 250-kilometre submarine cable across Bass Strait and 90 km of underground cabling with converter stations at each end to connect to the networks in Tasmania and Victoria. It will also include a switching station that will provide the connection to the North West Transmission Development project.
Marinus Link has now filed the DA for the first of the converter stations that is to be built at Heybridge, between Burnie and Penguin in Tasmania’s northwest.
It has also lodged an application for the shore crossing component of the Marinus Link project which includes laying of the cable from the converter station site at Heybridge under the shoreline and out across Bass Strait.
The undersea cable will stretch from Heybridge to Waratah Bay in Victoria’s southeast. It will then run underground to Hazelwood, 159 km east of Melbourne, where the second converter station will be built.
In its environmental impact statement, Marinus Link said the interconnector will increase the capacity and security of energy across the National Electricity Market, allow more efficient use of energy generated by current renewable energy developments and encourage new renewable energy development in both Tasmania and Victoria.
The lodging of the DA comes after Marinus Link revealed that total costs for the 750 MW first stage are now forecast to be $3.86 billion (USD 2.37 billion), an increase of approximately 17% compared to pre-tender completion estimates.
Marinus Link Interim Chief Executive Officer Collette Burke said the latest cost estimate is consistent with trends seen across other Australian infrastructure projects, particularly transmission, and growing demand for materials.
“The estimate reflects unprecedented demand for undersea cables, driven principally by demand in Europe as the world embraces the energy transition and manages the uncertainty created by international events,” she said.
Burke said the updated costings would not impact project timelines, with construction expected to begin in 2026 and to be completed by 2030.
She also emphasised that the project would provide significant economic stimulus in Victoria and Tasmania, with the first stage forecast to generate $2.4 billion in economic activity and nearly 2,400 jobs.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.