The federal Opposition has made a pledge to upgrade a new power plant. 

The ALP has pledged up to $700 million in extra funding for the Snowy Hydro power plant to make it run on green hydrogen.

If the party wins the next federal election, it says it would ensure the publicly-funded gas-fired Snowy Hydro Kurri Kurri plant announced by the Morrison government last May could run with 30 per cent green hydrogen blended in from the day it is fired up. Eventually, Labor claims the plant could run entirely on hydrogen.

The plan to inject up to $700 million in extra equity investment to Snowy Hydro would lift the potential total cost  of the Kurri Kurri project from $600 million to $1.3 billion.

Energy and emissions reduction minister Angus Taylor says the opposition’s plan is “economically incoherent”. 

“There’s technical feasibility – and getting some hydrogen into the generator is technically feasible – [and] there’s economic feasibility, which is: who’s going to pay for it?” he asked.

The Morrison government has tied its plans for Snowy Hydro into a broader “gas-fired recovery” scheme.

It sees the site as a “peaking” plant, which would be turned on only occasionally when needed at times of high demand and to fill gaps in the market. Snowy Hydro says that under the Coalition’s plan, it would run at just 2 per cent of its full capacity annually, employing about 10 people once operational.

Former head of the Energy Security Board, Kerry Schott, says the planned gas plant in the Hunter Valley does not “stack up” commercially.

Labor says running the plant on hydrogen would make it economically viable.

Gas market analyst Bruce Robertson says Labor has made a “cynical political decision that is not based on economics or the delivery of electricity to the Australian people at the cheapest possible cost”.