Australia Weather News

Tasmania's energy crisis has "turned the corner" as dam storages climb to 20 per cent, an increase of almost 4 per cent in seven days, Energy Minister Matthew Grooms says.

The increase follows a 3.1 per cent increase the week before.

Record low levels in the dams, which feed energy provider Hydro Tasmania's generators, had contributed to the state's power crisis.

The issue was compounded by the outage in the Basslink undersea cable, which connects Tasmania to Australia's power grid.

The State Government imported 100 diesel generators and restarted a gas-fired power plant to make up any potential shortfall in energy.

These contingency measures are now rarely being used as a result of the strong inflows over the past fortnight.

Mr Groom said the rains had provided a much-needed boost for the state.

"The strong inflows means that Hydro Tasmania has been able to begin the process of rebuilding storages from 12.8 per cent at the end of last month, to 20 per cent today," he said.

"While there is no doubt we have turned the corner on this issue over recent weeks, there continues to be a lot of work to do in managing ongoing challenges.

Weather conditions could delay Basslink repairs even more

But the Minister said the crisis was still not over.

"We need to continue the effort to rebuild our dam storages and we need to continue to ensure energy security in the context of the ongoing outage of the Basslink cable," he said.

"This is not a time for complacency.

"Basslink continues to advise that the return to service date of the cable is mid-June.

"However, there continues to be a risk of further delay as a consequence of adverse weather conditions."

Basslink has removed the faulty section and needs six days of clear weather to connect new cable to the existing one.

Industrials need to return to full capacity: Green

The State Opposition was pleased the pressure on Hydro's dams had eased.

Labor leader Bryan Green said the improving situation gave the Government the opportunity to help major industrials that had reduced production to save energy during the crisis.

"The Government must now manage the energy system to allow for our major industrials to return to full capacity," he said.

"Until industry is back to full strength, without the need for diesel generation, the crisis isn't over."