The team from Project Marinus gathered, both physically and remotely, at the newly-opened Crowne Plaza Hobart this morning (1 July) to mark a major milestone in the Project’s life – as the project now moves into the Design and Approvals phase.

The Design and Approvals phase undertakes the various activities required to achieve an investment decision for Marinus Link and the supporting Tasmanian transmission development. The project is targeting an investment decision in the mid 2020s so the link can commence service from the late 2020s.

The celebration recognised and thanked everyone who worked directly or indirectly to enable the project to meet this important milestone.

Already, there has been significant dedication and hard work put into Project Marinus, to get the project to where it is today.  2019 and 2020 threw up many challenges for the project to navigate – across political, energy market and natural environment spectrums, and of course the challenges of COVID-19. 

Despite these challenges, in the last 12 months the Project Marinus team has achieved much.  As we start the Design and Approval phase, we are in good shape:

• Our shareholder Ministers have confirmed that Project Marinus is a high priority for Tasmania, setting a target of doubling the State’s renewable energy production, backed by Marinus Link;
• AEMO has recognised the need to progress Marinus Link to be shovel ready; and
• The Prime Minister has announced that the Commonwealth will fast track the Marinus environmental approvals process, with the project recognised as priority infrastructure to support Australia’s COVID-19 recovery.

This is a great achievement for the team, the business and our shareholders. 

Project Marinus is a once in a generation opportunity for our state and a critical project for Australia’s energy future. It will support the prosperity of regional economies in Tasmania and Victoria, and a clean, reliable and affordable energy sector for Australia.

We’re looking forward to working together to achieve a successful Design and Approvals phase.