By rosebell
As the fourth TBM for Australia’s Snowy 2.0 pumped storage hydro project, TBM Monica has been named after Monica Brimmer, a Tumut High School student who won top prize in an indigenous art and storytelling competition and with15-year-old impressed the judging panel with a piece that reflected the spirit and purpose of Australia’s largest renewable energy project.
Monica’s work that was inspired by flowing water, connected dams, mountains, energy, an underground power station and a connection to Country, was awarded top marks in the competition, organised by Snowy Hydro in partnership with the Stars Foundation, a mentoring programme that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls and young women to identify their goals and reach their full potential and Tumut High School.
Monica said: “My artwork represented the creation of renewable energy and symbolised a greener future in which the land and our animals are better cared for. Knowing there’s something really important to the project out there with my name, in the mountains, is really cool. I’ve been interested in engineering for quite a while – and it’s pretty cool to put art and engineering together as part of something I could put my mind to.”
According to minister for climate change and energy Chris Bowen: “Snowy 2.0 was a nation-building project and was fitting its next TBM would carry the name and vision of a young local student and future engineer. Monica’s artwork captures the spirit of clean energy and connection to Country and reflects the brighter, cleaner energy future we’re building together. It’s inspiring to see the next generation in Tumut leading the way on creativity for Australia’s clean energy transformation.”
“The winning artwork perfectly encapsulated the project’s role in underpinning Australia’s clean energy future.The lightbulb shines bright and displays the power that we’re going to generate for the east coast of Australia through Snowy 2.0’s huge 2200MW capacity. It also perfectly highlights our workforce who are almost 1km-deep underground in the Snowy Mountains building one of the world’s biggest power stations,” said Snowy Hydro chief delivery officer, Snowy 2.0 Dave Evans.
While the scheduled date for launching TBM Monica is later this year, it is due to be assembled at the Marica work site soon.
