Marinus Link turns the first sod, with Australia's first offshore transmission licence in hand

Project Marinus held its sod-turning ceremony in North West Tasmania on 2 October 2026, a week after Marinus Link was granted Australia's first offshore Transmission and Infrastructure Licence — the final Commonwealth approval leading into construction. Preparatory works began earlier in 2026, and construction is now ramping up at the Heybridge and Hazelwood North converter station sites, the Sandy Point shore crossing, the Mardan site compound and along the underground cable route in Gippsland. Stage One is due for completion in 2030.

The licence was granted on 25 September 2026 by the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Josh Wilson, under the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021. It covers the subsea cables through Commonwealth waters and runs until 2090.

TasVic Greenlink — a joint venture of DT Infrastructure and Samsung C&T — is the lead construction contractor. Shortlisted against Empower, a joint venture of CPB Contractors and UGL, it was named preferred bidder in September 2025 and signed the $994 million (nominal) balance-of-works contract in December 2025: building the converter stations, installing equipment and the land-cable civil works. The HVDC cables come from Prysmian and the converter technology from Hitachi Energy.

Marinus Link is a second undersea electricity connection between Tasmania and Victoria: 255 kilometres of undersea cable across Bass Strait, 90 kilometres of underground cable in Gippsland, and converter stations at both ends, running from Heybridge, near Burnie, to Hazelwood in Victoria's Latrobe Valley.

Stage One is half the link

The full scheme is 1.5 gigawatts of HVDC transfer capacity, delivered in two stages:

• Stage One — the first 750 MW

• Stage Two — the second 750 MW, listed as "actionable" in AEMO's 2026 Integrated System Plan but not yet committed

That distinction matters. Stage Two has no investment decision, and the cost-allocation and equity arrangements agreed between the governments apply to Stage One only — Tasmania's Treasury records that no agreements have been reached on those parameters for Stage Two.

Marinus Link also sits inside Project Marinus, which includes the North West Transmission Developments in Tasmania. Stage One is being delivered alongside NWTD Stage One.

NWTD moved into construction on 31 August 2026, when TasNetworks issued head contractor Genus (GenusPlus Group, ASX: GNP) a notice to proceed. Genus values the total works at about $750 million, including $122 million of early contractor involvement and early works agreed earlier; its construction phase is scheduled to finish in 2029. NWTD Stage One is 129 kilometres of new and upgraded transmission lines, plus new substations and a switching station, from Cressy to Burnie via Sheffield — and work has started between Sheffield and Burnie. It is the point at which the Tasmanian onshore half of the scheme stops being a plan and starts being a job.

The essentials

The financing is the unusual part

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation's debt commitment is expected to be A$3.8 billion (nominal, including capitalised interest during construction) — the CEFC's biggest investment since it began investing — funding 80 per cent of Stage One under the Rewiring the Nation program.

The remaining 20 per cent is equity from the three shareholder governments:

Under its August 2025 agreement with the Commonwealth, Tasmania's equity investment is capped at about the $103.5 million it had already contributed; Tasmanian taxpayers put in no further equity.

The Australian Energy Regulator made its final decision on Stage One construction costs on 6 February 2026, approving $3,470.6 million ($2023) — $27.8 million less than Marinus Link's final proposal. The final amount of the CEFC's concessional loan was tied to that determination. Marinus Link recovers its costs through transmission charges only once operations begin in 2030.

Who actually pays

Tasmania and Victoria have agreed a cost allocation: Tasmanian customers will carry 27.6 per cent of Stage One's annual costs, Victorians 72.4 per cent.

That split is worth stating plainly because it is the substance of a long political argument. Tasmania is about 7.5 per cent of the combined population of the two states but carries more than a quarter of the annual cost. The split was set by agreement between the Tasmanian and Victorian governments, not by population, and it is separate from the equity shares above.

Whether that is a fair allocation is a policy question. What matters commercially is that for Stage One it is settled, which removes one of the largest uncertainties that has hung over this project for years.

What it means for contractors

The specialist HVDC scope sits with global suppliers. Prysmian is designing, making and laying the 255 kilometres of Bass Strait cable — the submarine cable is made in Naples and laid by its vessel Leonardo da Vinci — and Hitachi Energy is supplying the converter technology.

The onshore scope is where local businesses come in. TasVic Greenlink's package — building the converter stations at Heybridge and Hazelwood, installing equipment, and the 90 kilometres of land-cable civil works — runs through Australian subcontractors and suppliers. Marinus Link says 119 businesses and suppliers have already been engaged across Project Marinus, 59 of them from North and North West Tasmania.

Stage Two should not be resourced against. It is not committed. Anyone planning capability on the assumption of a 1.5 GW build should plan for 750 MW and treat the rest as upside.

What to watch

1. The construction ramp-up into 2027 — the converter station sites, the Sandy Point shore crossing and the Gippsland cable route.
2. Marinus Link's full revenue proposal, due to the AER in January 2029, ahead of commissioning in 2030.
3. Whether Stage Two proceeds, and whether the governments agree its cost allocation and funding.
4. North West Transmission Developments progress, with Genus's construction phase due to finish in 2029.
5. Cable manufacture and the offshore laying campaign, the specialist path to a 2030 finish.

Published 17 September 2026 · Updated 4 October 2026