Kimberley mine to be powered by electricity from Ord scheme

1/3/96

From today, Argyle Diamond's impressive Kimberley mine will be powered by the largest application of renewable energy in Western Australia.

Resources Development and Energy Minister Colin Barnett said the Ord Hydro-Electricity Scheme had produced the first electricity as the initial step in an overall plan to supply power to the growing regions of Kununurra and Wyndham and future Kimberley developments.

The Minister said an official opening of the project would be held on May 10 to mark full production of the hydro-electricity plant.

"The Ord hydro-electricity project has been a major achievement in the wider use of renewable energy and will deliver cheap, clean and efficient energy to the growing top-end of our State," he said.

The Minister said the project involved a partnership between Pacific Hydro Ltd and Lend Lease Corporation, which would supply Western Power with electricity at Kununurra for 25 years and the Argyle Diamond Mine for a minimum of seven years from 1996.

Up to 200 people worked on the project during the past 12 months.

One 15-megawatt power unit has been built at the base of the dam wall, with another one to follow, converting into electricity the energy of the water being discharged from Lake Argyle. The water will be used for irrigation purposes.

The Minister said Western Power would provide a transmission line from Kununurra to Wyndham to service more than 6,000 people in the region. Mr Barnett said that rapid growth of the Kununurra region meant there was an increasing need for extra power. The power station would have the generating capacity to meet the forecast demand for power in the north-Kimberley for at least the next 30 years and would replace three existing diesel power stations which would only be used as a back-up power source.

Western Power and the Argyle Diamond Mine would also be able to reduce consumption of imported diesel fuel by 60 million litres a year. This would represent a saving of $20 million in fuel costs and would equal enough fuel oil to fill 800 suburban swimming pools.

Mr Barnett said that Western Power had long been studying ways to reduce the operating costs of the Kununurra power station, as well as providing alternative power supplies for Wyndham. It was estimated that the hydro-electricity project would save Western Power about $2.5 to $3.5 million a year on operating costs.

Media contact: Carolyn Vicars - 222 9699