Posted: 2024-05-21 18:51:18

Tunnelling problems are plaguing the $12 billion Snowy 2.0 hydropower project, with a boring machine previously bogged in soft ground now wedged in hard rock and struggling to move.

The tunnel boring machine named Florence had been making slow progress in recent weeks as it cut through hard rock at the Tantangara site, one of several drilling locations in Kosciuszko National Park.

The ABC understands that earlier this month, Florence was mistakenly turned too sharply from a straight line into a curve, causing part of the cutting head to become wedged. Further boring compounded the problem, with the machine making only incremental movements since.

Machines deposit rock in a pile.

Rock drilled by Florence is deposited at the surface.(Supplied: Snowy Hydro)

Multiple sources have told the ABC the situation is more serious than has been publicly acknowledged by Snowy Hydro and could take weeks or even months before normal drilling resumes.

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