Kerrawary Power Station project

Located 60 kilometres north east of Goulburn in NSW, the 20 hectare Kerrawary site is on approximately 900 hectares of land which has an extensive buffer zone around it. Origin is currently assessing the development of a 1,000 MW gas-fired power station, which may be constructed in two stages.

The area was selected due to its proximity to both the Moomba Sydney Pipeline system and the New South Wales high voltage electricity transmission network. Origin Energy intend to commence the connection process with TransGrid on a possible connection to the grid at TransGrid's Bannaby Substation which adjoins the site.

Assess

We began to assess the viability of building a gas-fired power station near Big Hill and announced the project and started talking to the community in December 2010. Since then we have begun a series of environmental, sociological and engineering studies.

Submit a Major Project Application and PEA

We submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the proposed Kerrawary Power Station project to the NSW Department of Planning in March 2011. This initial document broadly summarises the project and notifies the department of our intentions.

Conduct technical studies and submit Environmental Assessment

Specialist studies will identify any potential impacts to air quality, aviation, indigenous, cultural heritage, ecology, visual amenity and surrounding water bodies. The environmental assessment will summarise outcomes of the studies and state our commitments to mitigate any areas of concern. The scope of the assessment will include impacts during construction and operation.

Public comments and responses

The Department will put the Environmental Assessment on public exhibition for at least 30 days. We expect this to happen in late 2011. You can make submissions about the project during this time. After the exhibition period, we will be given copies of the
submissions and will be asked to respond to the issues raised in the submissions. We will submit a report outlining any changes we propose in response to the submissions.

Approvals and decisions

The authorities will make a decision whether or not to approve the project.

If the project is approved…

The Origin Board will then make a decision about whether we will proceed to construction and if so, when this will be. Construction would take approximately 18 months to two years.

Should we move through to construction, a community investment/enhancements fund will be established.