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Tasmania’s natural beauty is astonishing, with pristine lakes, tangled forests that are home to myriad flora and fauna, rugged peaks, wild coastlines and glorious landscapes of fertile land growing an abundance of produce. Nature’s bounty also helps power our small state, with the hydro-electric power scheme harnessing the water through dams and power stations built in very difficult conditions.

That pioneering spirit and determination for innovation is just as evident today, with the move towards other methods of renewable energy. And Tasmania is front and centre in the renewables space, just as it has been for over a century.

Turn the lights on

The first Australian city to be lit by hydropower was Launceston, with the Duck Reach Power Station opening on the South Esk River in 1895. Now a museum, it was the first publicly owned hydro-electric power station in Australia and one of the earliest in the world, producing enough power to light around 1200 homes. By 1914, it was hydro-elecricity’s turn to make a splash. A small electricity company, now known as the Hydro Electric Corporation (HEC), was purchased by the Tasmanian Government. Just two years later, Waddamana, part of the Great Lake Power Scheme, was opened with great fanfare by Governor General Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson.

But with change, comes challenge. In 1972, the flooding of Lake Pedder for dams on the Serpentine and Huon rivers, and the consequent flooding of its natural basin, caused massive environmental damage and loss of habitat. However, it also led to an uprising of people who cared for the environment. By 1983, people power played a huge role in saving the Franklin River – a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site – from a similar fate, when the High Court ruled it must be protected.

Blowing in the wind

By the late ‘70s, the HEC had begun experimenting with wind power. In 1998, it commissioned its first wind farm at King Island’s Huxley Hill, installing three 250-watt generators. And in 2004, a 130-megawatt wind farm at Woolnorth was commissioned, with many more following. Granville Harbour is one of the newest locations and now has 31 wind turbines that can power 46,000 homes.

The last hydro-electric power station to be built in Tasmania was the Anthony Power Station on the west coast of Tasmania, commissioned in 1994. The name was later changed to Tribute Power Station to recognise the thousands of workers involved in building the hydro-electric power system that helped make Tasmania the 100 percent renewable energy state that it is today. In 2019–20, just under 90 percent of electricity generated in the state came from hydro-electric systems, and around 10 percent was accounted for by wind generation.

What’s next?

Not content to simply produce enough green energy to satisfy its own needs, Tasmania is ensuring its renewable energy supply helps to meet peak demand levels interstate.

The Basslink Interconnector, opened in 2006 between Tasmania and Victoria, was the longest High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable of its type in the world when it was constructed – and even today, its 290km submarine cable section remains the second longest globally.

Crossing Bass Strait to connect Victoria’s Loy Yang Power Station with the George Town substation in northern Tasmania, Basslink allows the trade of electricity between Tasmania and the National Electricity Market, to the benefit of both parties – mitigating the risk of drought- constrained energy shortages in Tasmania and protecting Victoria and southern states against the shortage of peak load power. A new sibling, the Marinus Link, will have three times the capacity of Basslink, delivering low-cost, reliable and clean energy for customers. Excess energy generated on the mainland will be able to be stored in Tasmania’s hydro storage and made available when demand outstrips supply.

Looking ahead, Tasmanian Minister for Energy, Guy Barnett, told Journeys that the Tasmanian Government would legislate the Tasmanian Renewable Energy Target (TRET), which will double Tasmania’s renewable energy by 2040. “The TRET goes far beyond other Australian states and is unmatched globally,” he says.

Just as Tasmania was a pioneer in the development and adoption of hydropower all those years ago, it continues to lead the nation in the race to become a renewable powerhouse.