Official opening of BHP Newman gas-fired power station
16/7/96 The iron ore industry received another boost today when Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett officially opened a $70 million gas-fired power station.
16/7/96
The iron ore industry received another boost today when Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett officially opened a $70 million gas-fired power station.
Opening the BHP Newman station, Mr Barnett said the project brought low cost and efficient energy to the Mt Newman iron ore project and the town itself.
"The state-of-the-art station has replaced the existing diesel generators with reliable and cheap energy," he said.
"Another benefit is that the greenhouse gas emissions in the region which are attributable to power generation will be reduced."
The Newman station consists of three 35 MW gas turbines located at the Mr Newman mine site, which is less than two kilometres from the town. Gas will be supplied to the project via a lateral pipe from the Goldfields Gas pipeline project.
Mr Barnett said the Newman power station was the first to use natural gas from the 1,380 kilometre pipeline which runs from Port Hedland to Kalgoorlie.
The station was constructed and would be operated by BHP subsidiary Pilbara Energy Project Limited.
The Minister congratulated Pilbara Energy for the manner in which it built the station in just over 12 months with an excellent safety record.
Site work for the power station began in November 1995.
The completion of the Newman Station represented the third major investment by Pilbara Energy Project Limited in the region totalling $305 million.
In June, 1995, a 105 MW gas-fired power station at Port Hedland was commissioned, following the completion of a 213 km gas pipeline from Karratha to the port town.
Mr Barnett said that in addition to the supply of electricity to the Mt Newman iron ore project and Newman, the power station also had the potential to supply electricity iron operations at Yandi, Jimblebar and Newman satellite ore bodies.
Furthermore, the power station could also be used to supply electricity to the proposed iron ore operations at Mining Area C and Orebody 18.
Media contact: Anabel Gomez 222 9699
