Key stakeholders form energy forum

Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said today that key energy stakeholders would work together to firm up the future power needs of North West Queensland.

Minister Wilson said the State Government had called together representatives from CS Energy, the Queensland Resources Council, Ergon Energy, Xstrata, Zinifex and BHP Billiton to form an energy think tank.

“This is about identifying the combined long term power needs of all major electricity consumers and prospective new mining developers in the region,” Mr Wilson said.

“We need top level talks with everyone around table. The findings will then be used to assess the development of new generating capacity to meet the long term requirements of the region.

“This could be provided by CS Energy or any other commercial power generator that wants to come to the region.

“CS Energy and AGL are already investigating an expansion of the Mica Creek power station, but our stakeholder group will open up the opportunity for other power generators to enter on a commercial basis.

“CS Energy advises that the Mica Creek power station is able to generate sufficient electricity for the next two summers and our key stakeholders will be looking at the longer term power needs of the north west.

“Consumers in Mount Isa and the surrounding area will continue to have a reliable and secure electricity supply,” Mr Wilson said.

“Mica Creek is not connected to the national grid for the same reason that the North Territory and Western Australia are not – the distance between the isolated grids and the national grid means the high cost of transmission would be passed on to consumers.

“Future changes in fuel costs and the cost of transmission may change in the longer term.

“It’s my understanding that for some time now, Xstrata has been looking at several options for a new long term power supply when their current contract expires in 2013.

“The options included extra generation at Mica Creek, a major transmission line from the coast, and the development of their own power station for their own local purposes.

“I want everyone around the table so that together we can come up with a commercially viable solution that’s in the best interests of the north west region,” he said.

Media Inquiries: Ellen McIntyre 3225 1819