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North-west minerals province energy
The Sims Review, jointly commissioned by the State Government and the Queensland Resources Council (QRC), in 2009 recommended a competitive process for proponents to bid to provide a long-term energy solution for the Mount Isa region.
The north-west's major miners are still weighing up the relative merits of three major proposals, according to QRC director of industry policy Andrew Barger. "The proponent are still sharpening their pencils and coming back to the customers with answers about timeline, approval processes and cost," Mr Barger said.
The equation was complicated by uncertainty over how potential funding from the Federal Government would come into play, he said. Mr Barger said the fact that a raft of major gas contracts was due to expire in 2013 added time pressure to the process, especially given the expected lead times for the major works being proposed.
Proposals under consideration include:
APA is proposing development of a new 240MW gas-fired power station to supply Mount Isa customers. The company owns and operates the Carpentaria Gas Pipeline, which supplies energy to customers including Phosphate Hill, BHP Billiton Cannington and CS Energy's Mica Creek Power Station. It also operates a 30MW plant supplying power to Xstrata. http://qld.apa.com.au/
CuString and Leighton Contractors plan to give major energy users in the north-west access to the national electricity grid by constructing a transmission line from Woodstock, south of Townsville, to Dajarra Road near Cloncurry. The $1.5 billion project would also provide opportunities for renewable energy projects to "plug in" along the proposed transmission line and supply clean energy to the grid. www.copperstring.com.au
CS Energy proposes a $150-$200million upgrade to its existing gas-fired plant in Mount Isa. The project would involve retiring four of the power station's 10 generating units and replacing them with 120MW of high-efficiency, combined-cycle gas generation plant. This proposed upgrade is in addition to about $30 million recently invested in a new 26MW relocatable generation plant being installed to reinforce the power station's existing generating capacity. www.csenergy.com.au
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| March 2012 |
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| January 2012 |
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| November 2011 |
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