The onset of winter rain in Tasmania has boosted dam storage levels sufficiently to enable the resumption of full production at constrained aluminium and minerals processing plans.
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Rio Tinto's Bell Bay aluminium smelter is to resume full production by the end of June – a month earlier than expected – and TEMCO, the magnesium alloy plant owned by BHP Billiton spin-out South 32, within a month.
Both companies had curtailed production due to power shortages following a dry 2015. As well, the Boyer paper mill, which is owned by Norske Skog, brought forward planned maintenance which helped reduce electricity consumption for a time.
Concerns over blackouts were exacerbated by the loss of the undersea power connection between Tasmania and the mainland, Basslink.
Following extensive delays, this link is now expected to be back in operation by mid-June, with the repair vessel, the Il De Re, leaving port in Geelong last week to undertake what is hoped to be the final repairs.
At the start of last week, the Tasmanian government said water storage in the state's dams had risen to 20 per cent, up from the low of 12.8 per cent in late April.
"A continuation of that [inflow] will see it go up another 2-3 percentage points, rising closer to 25 per cent, which is the 'prudential water management level' sought by Hydro Tasmania," a government spokesman said. "We're on track for one of our wettest Mays on record."
The recent heavy rain had enabled the power company to operate its "run of river" hydro units, which generate electricity largely from the flow of river water, with only limited dam storage levels.
"It is basically 'use it or lose it'," the government spokesman said of using river flows to generate electricity.
Electricity from this source had enabled the decision to idle all the recently installed diesel power generators, along with the gas-fired Tamar power station.
More importantly for the state's longer term electricity security, Lake Gordon and Great Lake, are also enjoying strong inflows although refilling them will take a significant time.
The Tasmanian government has called for the construction of a second cable to link the island to the mainland, wanting the proposal declared "national infrastructure", which could result in Federal government funding.
The original Basslink cost an estimated $800 million to build. It was commissioned in 2005.
One of the issues in resolving the recent power shortage in Tasmania was the difficulty in locating and then repairing Basslink. It took until the end of April for the fault to be located, four months after the link went down.
