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BN 09/14 23:50 *PNG GOVT, QLD TO SIGN PACT WITH PNG EDL AND ORIGIN ENERGY
BN 09/14 23:49 *ORG:PNG-QLD GOVERNMENTS SUPPORT PNG RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT
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Origin Studies PNG Hydro Project to Supply Queensland (Update1)
2010-09-15 03:29:16.372 GMT
(Updates with Origin's comment in third paragraph.)
By Ben Sharples
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Origin Energy Ltd., Australia's
second-biggest electricity and gas retailer, agreed to study the
development of a hydro project in Papua New Guinea that would
supply power to northern Queensland.
The venture at Wabo, 350 kilometers (217 miles) north-west
of the capital Port Moresby, would have continuous-power
generation capacity of about 1,800 megawatts, Origin said in a
statement today. An engineering and environmental study is
expected to be completed by 2012, the Sydney-based company said.
"This would be the first project to deliver year-round
baseload renewable energy into mainland Australia," Origin
Managing Director Grant King said in the statement. Power will
be transmitted by two undersea cables of around 250 kilometers
each, running through Weipa on north Queensland's Gulf of
Carpentaria and connecting to the national grid at Townsville on
the eastern coast.
Talks about supplying power to resource projects in far
north Queensland will start "very soon," Origin spokesman Tim
Scott said by telephone today. While it's premature to project
the development costs or the timing of construction, the
hydropower project would be Origin's second-biggest investment
after the proposed Australia Pacific LNG venture with
ConocoPhillips at Gladstone in Queensland, he said. Analysts
have estimated that project may cost $31 billion.
Origin owns 2,833 megawatts of generation capacity,
excluding New Zealand unit Contact Energy Ltd., according to its
website. Its largest power station is the 665 megawatt gas-fired
Uranquinty site. One megawatt can power about 1,000 Australian
homes.
The Papua New Guinea project would also supply power to
local villages and rural communities in a country where about 40
percent of the population lives on less that $1 a day, according
to estimates from AusAID, the Australian government agency
responsible for managing overseas aid. The venture may help
"open up significant industrial development" in the Pacific
nation, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said in the statement.
Origin is assessing the project in partnership with PNG
Sustainable Development Program Ltd.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:TOP<GO>
Top energy stories ETOP <GO>
--Editors: John Viljoen, Ryan Woo.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ben Sharples in Melbourne at +61-3-9228-8732 or
bsharples@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell in Singapore at +65-6311-2423 or
crussell7@bloomberg.net
