Published Tuesday, 18 November, 2008 at 04:11 PM

Minister for Mines and Energy
The Honourable Geoff Wilson
A new energy hub for the far north
Mareeba is set to become a new energy hub for far north Queensland, Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said today.
Mr Wilson said the Bligh Government had spent around $4 million to upgrade Ergon Energy’s Mareeba depot.
“Over time, the Mareeba depot has become a major energy facility for Ergon Energy in the region,” Mr Wilson said.
“A big factor is the mining boom. The town has a sealed airstrip and that allows crews to fly in and out of the Cape and Torres Strait.”
Minister Wilson said the Ergon Energy depot services around 400,000 square kilometres of far north Queensland, an area nearly six times the size of Tasmania.
It includes all areas north of Ellis Beach, west to the Gulf of Carpentaria and north to Cape York and the far reaches of the Torres Strait Islands to the Papua New Guinea border.
In the past seven years, the workforce at Mareeba has more than doubled, rising from 20 to 44.
Ergon has 37,000 customers on the Tablelands. They also provide power to the Kagara Zinc Mine site at Mt Garnet and will shortly re-establish a 66,000 volt supply to the Red Dome Mine site at Chillagoe.
The Mareeba upgrade included:
·A large workshop and stores warehouse to store spares in preparation for the cyclone season;
·Training facilities and an environmentally friendly wash-down bay for vehicles;
·A solar PV to boost electricity supply to the depot;
·Extra bitumen space for storage and vehicle parking;
·New roofing for the main building, repainted with cladding;
·New aluminium window awnings to improve insulation and climate control inside the building;
·A shaded outdoors area; and
·Modern amenities for the administrative building
Mr Wilson said the depot could now support up to 60 staff and accommodate large training sessions and meetings on site.
“It’s one of Ergon Energy’s most modern facilities in the far north,” he said.
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