Basslink Sale


Energy Minister David Llewellyn tomorrow will meet Mr Bill Russell, Managing Director of National Grid Australia.
Mr Russell will provide the State Government with a briefing regarding National Grid UK’s announcement tonight of its intention to sell its Australian business – the Basslink interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria.
Mr Llewellyn offered his absolute assurance to the Tasmanian community that the strong contractual agreements that protect the commercial interests of Hydro Tasmania and the operation of the link would not be affected by any change of ownership.
“I will be asking Mr Russell to confirm that all contractual agreements and obligations that currently apply to National Grid will transfer in their entirety to a new owner, whoever that might be. I am very confident that he will do so” said Mr Llewellyn.
“This development is very similar to the situation in 2004 when Duke Energy sold its Australian assets to Alinta, including the pipeline that brings natural gas to Tasmania.
“In that circumstance, the agreements and contractual obligations between Duke and Hydro Tasmania were transferred without concern to Alinta. In exactly the same way as occurred with the gas pipeline, the future operation of Basslink will be business as usual.”
Mr Llewellyn confirmed that Basslink had performed very well since it was commissioned in May this year.
“Recent transactions confirm that the market for Australian infrastructure assets has been strong, and I anticipate that the sale process will generate considerable interest”, said Mr Llewellyn.
“Basslink has been central to the Government’s approach to energy reform. The current dry spell has confirmed the wisdom of our strong leadership of this important project – without Basslink and gas, Tasmania would be in serious strife.
“Likewise, the growing recognition of the grave threat posed by climate change means that the physical connection of Tasmania’s renewable