Government’s $2 billion plan to expand the Snowy Hydro scheme a ‘plan for the future’

The $2 billion dollar expansion of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme is a cost effective plan for the future of Australia’s energy supply, experts say.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to announce the ambitious plan to expand the scheme.

Engineering expert Professor Andrew Blakers told Neil Mitchell it was a straightforward approach.

‘As the Australian grid moves quite strongly towards solar and wind, there’s going to be times when it’s sunny and windy, and you can’t consume all that energy.

‘So you use it to pump water uphill, in the middle of the night when the wind stops blowing, the water comes back down the hill to keep the lights on.’

Click PLAY to hear more from Professor Andrew Blakers from the ANU’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems: