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Media Releases |
Media Release - Minister's Office Sydney: 4 November, 2009 MORE THAN 500 JOBS SUPPORTED AS POWER STATIONS APPROVED The NSW Government has approved the development of two new gas fired power stations north of Marulan which will support more than 500 jobs and over $800 million of investment. Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, said between them the two facilities have the potential to generate up to 800 megawatts of electricity and support around 500 construction and 20 ongoing jobs. “These power stations will deliver an economic and employment boost to the Southern Tablelands as well as help secure the State’s energy supply,” Ms Keneally said. “Additional power generation is a real and necessary requirement to ensure a reliable and secure energy supply in NSW into the future. “Together the two stations, once operational, have the potential to power the equivalent of around 800,000 typical NSW households.” Ms Keneally said the gas-fired power stations were proposed by Energy Australia and Delta Electricity. “The Energy Australia proposal is for a 350 megawatt peaking power station while the Delta Electricity proposal will comprise of two stages,” Ms Keneally said. “The first stage of the Delta Electricity proposal is for a 250 – 350 megawatt gas-fired peaking power station. Stage two is to convert that station into a base load 400 – 450 megawatt facility. “The potential for Delta to convert from a peaking power station to a base load power station will depend upon market demand and further assessment.” Ms Keneally said a concept plan had also been approved for gas and water supply pipelines and transmission line infrastructure. “Because the stations are situated next to each other, they have agreed to share supporting infrastructure,” Ms Keneally said. “This allowed for an integrated assessment of both power station proposals and the supporting infrastructure meaning several improvements could be made to the plan. “That included approval of only the eastern gas pipeline corridor, delivering superior environmental outcomes and resulting in conservation of an additional six hectares of environmental land. “The delivery of over 60 hectares of high quality conservation land which is almost three times more than will be cleared to construct the project.” Ms Keneally said a rigorous assessment of air quality impacts also found that while the project would meet all air quality criteria, both power stations will be required to adhere to strict emissions limits. “And following concerns regarding the potential increase in dust emissions from construction and operation, both companies have committed to sealing the access road at a cost of around $900,000,” Ms Keneally said. “The companies will be required to assess the condition of all local roads prior to the commencement of construction and upgrade these roads where necessary to accommodate increased truck movements. “And they will also be required to restore any damage caused to the roads from this traffic following construction.” IMPORTANT STATEMENT ABOUT POLITICAL DONATIONS New political donation disclosure laws came into effect in 2008 imposing obligations on applicants making applications for project approval to the Minister for Planning from 1 October 2008 to disclose all reportable political donations (if any) made by anyone with a financial interest in the application within the period commencing two years before the application is made and ending when the application is determined. More information on these obligations is available at www.planning.nsw.gov.au/donations No reportable political donation statement was made to the Department of Planning for this project.
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