Petratherm’s renewable energy project is expected to deliver 600MW of power to the growing electricity market by 2016.
The first 300MW will come from a combination of gas and wind power, while the second 300MW will include geothermal and solar.
The renewable energy project will be developed on about 1,800sq km of land, which is 50km north of its Paralana geothermal project.
Petratherm managing director Terry Kallis said the precinct is expected to initially focus on gas and wind power generation before expanding to solar and geothermal as these technologies develop as lower cost alternatives.
"Through the combination of new power generation facilities on-site, the 600MW of electricity we plan to produce will be reliable, competitively priced electricity to meet expected demand from large mining developments."
"This combination of energy sources can deliver attractive hybrid products to customers that lower electricity costs and improve reliability while also reducing carbon emissions," Kallis said.
In addition, Petratherm’s Heliotherm research project currently being undertaken with the University of Adelaide also provides further opportunity in the future to fully integrate the various energy sources by potentially reducing the capital costs of solar thermal by as much as 40%, and providing base-load operation, the company said.
