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Media Release - Minister's Office Sydney: 21 July 2008 NORTH-WEST PARKES GAS-FIRED POWER STATION APPROVED The NSW Government has approved a $50 million project application for a gas-fired power station near Parkes to help supplement growing power demand in the State’s Central West.
Acting Minister for Planning John Hatzistergos said the project involved the construction of three turbines to generate a total capacity of 120-150 MW and a natural gas pipeline connecting the facility to the Central West Pipeline at Parkes.
The proposal, by International Power (Australia) Pty Ltd, will also assist in alleviating existing constraints in the transmission of electricity in the area near Cowra, Forbes and Parkes and will ensure a stable, secure energy supply in the region.
The project will generate 40 full time jobs during the six month construction period and four full-time positions during operation.
“The North-West Parkes gas-fired power station will fulfil a dual role of supporting a stable and secure transmission network and operating as a peaking plant to generate electricity on an as-required basis,” Mr Hatzistergos said.
The turbines’ dual fuel capability will also allow the use of distillate fuel in the event of an interrupted supply of gas.
The Department of Planning’s assessment of the proposal found that both ambient air quality criteria and operational noise goals would be comfortably met, even assuming continuous operation all year.
The plant is expected to operate up to 10% of the year.
Planning Minister Frank Sartor imposed various conditions to ensure the environment and public amenity are protected throughout construction and operation, including:
• Restriction of the use of distillate fuel to no more than 200 hours in any year; • Stringent air quality limits that must be met at all times; • Requirement for on-going air quality monitoring for the project; • Imposition of stringent operational noise limits and a Construction Noise Environmental Management Plan; and • Requirement to undertake revegetation of the site around the proposed facility
The site was chosen as it strikes an appropriate balance between access to the TransGrid and Country Energy electricity systems, access to gas supply and minimisation of potential conflicts with surrounding land uses.
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