Darling Downs Power Station
Overview
The purchase of Sun Retail from the Queensland Government in February 2007 has resulted in Origin Energy gaining development and regulatory approvals for a gas-fired power station in the Darling Downs region near Braemar, 40km west of Dalby.
The new Darling Downs Power Station will take advantage of the rich source of Coal Seam Gas (CSG) reserves held by Origin in south west Queensland, predominantly in the area around Roma and Chinchilla.
On 12 June 2007, Origin committed to a construction contract worth $780 million over approximately three years to build the 630MW gas-fired power station – the biggest combined cycle power station in Australia. This will produce enough power to supply the equivalent of 400,000 Queensland homes.
Power Station
Origin has contracted a consortium of GE and CH2M Hill to construct the power station. GE will supply three Frame 9E gas turbines with a capacity of 120MW each and a steam turbine of 270MW capacity. CH2M Hill will undertake engineering and construction activities and supply of the balance of plant.
The power station will be able to operate from intermediate to full base load capacity, and will emit about half the greenhouse gas emissions than a coal-fired power station using current technology would create. This will save 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year – equivalent to removing 600,000 cars annually from our roads.
As the power station uses air cooled technology, it will use less than 3 per cent of the water a conventional water cooled coal-fired power station would use, or about 200 ML versus 8000 ML a year.
Construction began in August 2007, with commissioning to occur in the fourth quarter of 2009 and ramping up to full commercial operation in the first quarter of 2010.
When fully operational the power station will consume about 44PJ of gas per year.
The power station project will directly employ an average of 300 people during the construction phase and up to 25 people once fully operational.
From Coal Seam Gas extraction to Darling Downs Power Station to electricity generation and delivery to homes.
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Coal seam gas to the power station
While the Power Station construction is occurring, two separate but parallel activities will occur.
Origin will invest a further $360 million to expand its CSG production at Spring Gully located 80km north of Roma and this supply source will later be supplemented by the development of Origin’s CSG Walloons fields (near Chinchilla).
Fuel for the power station will be processed at the Spring Gully CSG gas processing plant and then transported through an existing gas pipeline to Wallumbilla. A new $90 million 200km pipeline will be constructed from Wallumbilla to the new Darling Downs Power Station site.
Utilising Origin’s CSG reserves to power the Darling Downs Power Station will provide synergies that enhance the economic and environmental aspects of the project, and will provide reliability and security in the generation fuel mix in Queensland.
(Click on image above for larger size)
The development will result in one of the lowest cost power stations in the National Electricity Market due to:
- Origin’s direct ownership of the coal seam gas reserves that will fuel the power station
- A competitive site location which was purchased as part of the Sun Retail acquisition, and
- A low life cycle cost for the power station, which includes construction and long-term maintenance costs.
The power station complements Origin’s peaking power stations at Roma (80MW) and Mt Stuart (288MW) and off-take rights from the Wambo peaking power station (450MW). This creates a diverse and competitive generation portfolio that supports Origin’s existing electricity retail business in Queensland.
Construction Employment, Sub Contracting and Supplier opportunities
Enquiries regarding possible supply of equipment and services during construction of the Darling Downs Power Station project can be registered with ICN online .
Enquiries regarding possible employment during construction of the Darling Downs Power Station project can be directed to the Darling Downs Construction Joint Venture (DDJV) .
Operational Employment opportunities
Please visit the Manpower website for further information regarding recruitment opportunities at the Darling Downs Power Station.