06 Sep ABC News: Snowy 2.0 Pumped-Hydro Scheme More Resilient to Climate Change
In a recent radio interview and article with ABC South East NSW, DARE Director and leading hydrologist, Willem Vervoort discussed the Snowy 2.0 pumped-hydro scheme and its resilience to climate change.
The existing Snowy Scheme relied on snow melt and spring rain for about half its inflows to turn turbines while Snowy 2.0 would reuse water already in the system. “The main losses [of water] would be through evaporation … so we need to keep some level of water within the dams to cycle it around and reuse it,” Professor Vervoort said.
Future projections for the alpine climate indicate extended droughts leading to water shortages, interspersed with periods of intense rainfall resulting in water surpluses. “Snowy 2.0 is probably going to be more reliant on rainfall because of the decline in snow fall and increase in snow melt due to higher temperatures.”
Professor Vervoort commented that a more unpredictable climate is expected to bring prolonged droughts as well as periods of more intense rainfall. “Snowy Hydro 2.0 is aimed at using the water already in the system and circulating that around so if in big droughts more water is sent down stream because of irrigation, then in the end [Snowy 2.0] is also going to run out of water,” he said.