The government of Australia has identified 15 major infrastructure projects that will be fast-tracked for approval, including the 1,500 MW Marinus Link connecting the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria across the Bass Strait.
In late 2019, the Tasmanian government state-owned electricity provider TasNetworks released the feasibility study and business case assessment for the Marinus Link project. The project would consist of two separate HVDC cables of 750 MW each and would run from north west Tasmania near Burnie, where large renewable electricity generation and storage capacity are under development, to the Latrobe Valley in Victoria. Its estimated cost reaches AUD3.5bn (US$2.4bn). At present, Tasmania can only export 500 MW as it is limited by the capacity of the existing interconnector Bass Link. The state aims to become the "Battery of the Nation" by boosting its pumped-storage hydropower capacity and by developing 2,000 MW of new wind power capacity over the next 15 years.