Second electricity connection to Tasmania under consideration

Announcing a feasibility study, PM says time has come to consider second link after challenge of breakage of existing Basslink interconnector

The federal government has launched a feasibility study into a second electricity connector between Tasmania and the mainland, which Malcolm Turnbull has said is "very likely" to prove its commercial viability.

Speaking in Tasmania on Thursday, the prime minister said he and Tasmania's premier, Will Hodgman, believed the time had come to consider the second link because the state had "faced a very severe challenge in terms of energy supply with the breakage" in the Basslink interconnector, which is being repaired.