Race is on to power desalination plant

West Australian
09/01/2008 Page: 43

The State Government's decision to allow fledgling market technology to help fuel the Binningup plant will open doors.

Fremantle inventor Alan Burns' Carnegie Corp is squaring off with Ric Stowe's Griffin Energy in a contest among energy pioneers to provide new types of sustainable power for the Water Corporation's $1 billion Binningup desalination plant. Griffin Energy has lodged three expressions of interest for the plant, which is slated to come on stream in 2011, including commercially proven wind energy and a wave power joint venture with Anglo-American company Ocean Power Technology.

The Ocean Power Technology joint venture pits it against Carnegie, which is hoping to put its CETO Wave technology to work commercially in a year. Like Ocean Power, CETO Wave promises to convert wave power into emissions-free electricity. CETO's process also purifies sea water for drinking use.

Wayne Trumble, power generation executive manager for Griffin, said his company indirectly supplied energy for the existing desalination plant through its Emu Downs Wind Farm. "We see a strong future for renewable energy as part of WA's balanced energy mix," he said.

The Water Corporation confirmed it would begin discussions this month with 13 potential suppliers for the plant. A date for the expected short list has not been announced but estimates on the value of the power supply contract, based on costs from the Kwinana plant, place it in the area of $10 million a year. the plant is expected to require 200 gigawatt hours per year and will seek 40GWh in commercially unproven technology under a plan announced by Premier Alan Carpenter in September.

The estimated $2 million contract for the commercially unproven technology sector could prove a turning point for the company that provides it and for the sector itself. John Wright, director of CSIRO's energy transformed flagship program, said that nationwide wave power was in an embryonic stage, appropriate for a small demonstration plant. Dr Wright said the technology would be helped enormously by having an actual working operation.

Carnegie's stock has risen from 18¢ at the beginning of last month to as high as 47¢ last week on speculation its CETO Wave technology would ultimately snag part of the contract. But the race for potential energy providers to the plant remains wide open. Oswal Power, owned by Burrup Fertilisers entrepreneur Pankaj Oswal, has tossed its hat into the ring to provide commercially proven technology that needs only be scaled up to satisfy the requirements of the desalination plant.

A number of companies would like to provide the mix of energies themselves. Verve Energy is offering a wind-biomass mix that would fulfil both sides of the requirement. Verve Energy's biomass plans use plantation-grown mallee trees which can be harvested and used for eucalyptus oil, carbon and energy. Verve spokesman Peter Winner said planting mallees had the added advantage of combating ground salinity in WA. "There's heaps of interest," Mr Winner said. "It's just a matter of getting to the next step." Independent Offshore Solutions director Duncan Mitchell refused to discuss the unproven portion of its energy technology offering but said he expected it to account for 20 per cent of the mix the Nedlands company would offer.

The other 80 per cent would most likely come from wind farm energy which had been around for years. Mr Mitchell said his company was taking a "low-profile" approach. "Definitely there's investor sentiment out there if we have a technology near commercialisation," he said. "But we must prove it first before we begin soliciting funds." Another player is SpiritWest bioenergy, a joint venture 60 per cent owned by the listed Pacific Energy and 40 per cent owned by Perpetual Investments.

Pacific's chairman is former Clough managing director Brian Hewitt and prominent company promoter Ian Middlemas serves as his deputy. Pacific managing director Adam Boyd said the technology converted to fuel everything from a tree "you don't see on a logging truck." SpiritWest is starting construction on a plant later this year which will position it to deliver to the Water Corporation or two other potential clients it is in talks with. Of SpiritWest's chances, Mr Boyd said: "We have a great chance because we have a very advanced project."

Wiring Up The Water

• Project: Southern Seawater desalination Plant, second plant in WA after Perth Seawater Desal Plant
• Location: Binningup, WA
• Drinking Water Per Year: 50 gigalitres, scalable to 100 gigalitres
• Power Requirements: 200 gigawatt hours of renewable energy, 160 gigawatt hours to be sourced from commercially proven renewable energy, 40 gigawatt hours to be provided by commercially unproven renewable energy
• Construction to begin in 2009
• Project to be operational in 2011