Green status of Snowy power station in doubt

Sydney Morning Herald
Friday 27/2/2009 Page: 11

A KEY power station in the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme may have breached its status as a "green power" provider, because its environmental effect downstream appears to outweigh the benefits of the renewable power it creates. The Jindabyne darn plant received green power accreditation in 2006, but studies show that downstream water flows have slowed to a trickle, putting native fish, plants and animals in jeopardy.

A report by the independent Snowy Scientific Committee, completed in October but kept secret for four months by the State Government, showed a river system starved of water. Environmental flows were only a third of those promised and water was being diverted to the Murray River to boost crop irrigation. Under the rules for green power accreditation, hydro plants must allow for ''adequate" environmental flows, and the leaked Snowy report says "environmental releases to date have not been adequate".

"There's a lot at stake here if green power is going to keep its clean reputation, and the Snowy Hydro debacle is a low point in it's credibility,'' said the director of the Total Environment Centre, Jeff Angel. The group has written to the Department of Water and Energy, which oversees green power, requesting that Lake Jindabyne be removed from the list of approved renewable energy generators.

The NSW Government is standing by the power plant's green credentials. The complaints were "typical pettiness by some elements of the Green movement", said the Minister for Energy, Ian McDonald. Snowy Hydro Limited, the corporation that manages the hydro-electric scheme, including Lake Jindabyne, said it regarded the power plant as accredited green power.

''From our point of view we're releasing environmental water that is improving the river, and Lake Jindabyne is completely green, clean power," said a Snowy Hydro spokesman, Paul Johnson. ''We don't determine the amount of flow; that's up to the NSW Government." The water licence that determined how much of the Snowy River should be released downstream was being reviewed, with a decision due within weeks, the Department of Water and Energy said.

The NSW Opposition believes public confidence in green power, in which people pay extra on their power bills to support renewable energy, will be undermined if the accreditation process is not reviewed in the Jindabyne case. About 10%of households and businesses support the greenpower program. The Opposition spokeswoman on environmental sustainability, Catherine Cusack, said: ''The State Government must be scrupulous about maintaining the integrity of the green power scheme, otherwise it undermines consumers and all the businesses that are trying to do the right thing. It's appalling that the Government isn't reaching those standards."

The Jindabyne hydro plant was built in 2006, when another river was diverted to Lake Jindabyne to allow for environmental flows mandated by the Snowy water licence agreement. It harvests water flows to spin turbines and generate electricity.