The project is estimated to cost approximately AUD570 million which includes the cost of acquiring existing equipment from Horizon Power. The project will be built on an existing site at Boodarie Industrial Estate and will be one of the most efficient power stations in the region.
"We set out to grow our business in Australia three years ago. By focusing on serving large industrial customers, we’ve now been able to invest close to a billion dollars in Australia in assets with stable long-term contracts," said Dawn Farrell, TransAlta’s President and Chief Executive officer. "This latest investment will have a power plant ready to serve a new customer, Horizon Power, and an existing customer, Fortescue in the Pilbara region of Western Australia by 2017."
The development has been fully contracted under 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Horizon Power and Fortescue, and may be expanded to accommodate additional customers at later dates. The station will supply Horizon Power’s customers in the Pilbara region as well as Fortescue’s port operations. The combined cycle gas power station is expected to be commissioned in 2017, creating approximately 250 jobs during construction and 20 jobs when in full operation.
"We are very pleased to have Horizon Power and Fortescue Metals Group as anchor customers," said Dawn Farrell, adding that she plans to speak in more detail about the South Hedland project during TransAlta’s second quarter results conference call on July 30.
TransAlta has been operating in Western Australia since 1996. With six facilities totaling 425 MW of generating capacity and a natural gas pipeline in development, TransAlta has proven its ability to provide cost-effective reliable power to remote operations in the region. By 2017, the business in Western Australia will grow to 16 per cent of TransAlta’s EBITDA.
