Environment

Coolimba Power will provide a competitive energy solution for many consumers in the SWIS, and will be designed and operated in accordance with very high standards of environmental performance. It will represent best practice in terms of water use and sulphur emissions, and will be an Australian flagship project in terms of its ability to limit its future emissions of carbon dioxide. The Coolimba Power Station aims to become a low emissions power station, using carbon capture and storage technology.

The location of the power station will help to reduce the transmission network losses that currently exist transporting electricity from the Collie Basin and the metropolitan area into the Mid West region. Having a baseload power station in the region will significantly reduce these losses and improve the reliability of supply in the region.

The location will also bring other environmental advantages. The project will be mostly self sufficient in water. The power station will utilise water from the dewatering of the adjacent Central West Coal mine for cooling of the power station. The water is brackish and would not be suitable for drinking or agricultural use. Approximately nine gigalitres of water from mine dewatering will be used for cooling the plant which provides considerable saving to valuable potable water supplies.

The Coolimba Power Station will be fuelled by coal mined from the Central West Coal deposit. This deposit contains sufficient coal to supply the power station for its 30 year life, although the quality of the coal is not high by Australian standards. In particular, the coal contains above average amounts of ash and sulphur. Most Australian coals do not contain levels of sulphur that warrant its capture after combustion. However, the coal at Eneabba will require the capture of sulphur in the flue gas. Coolimba will be employing circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boilers designed to enable capture of sulphur from the coal before it is emitted in the flue stack.

The operation of the Coolimba Power Project is not expected to have an adverse impact on the community. The closest town, Eneabba, is more than 15km from the Project site, but in any case Coolimba will conform to the strictest air emission levels.The closest town is more than 16km from the Project site, and prevailing winds will favour non populated areas to the east and west of the Project area.

The power station and coal mine are on privately owned agricultural land. Approximately 600 hectares of previously cleared regrowth vegetation will be cleared for the coal mine. This will be progressively rehabilitated during the life of the project.

The coal will be mined using a dip-cut method. This mining method will allow virtually all of the mined area to be back filled to its original contours and returned to previous land use. In addition, Aviva proposes that all of the ash produced by the combustion of the coal will be returned to the mine for disposal, thus eliminating the unsightly ash ponds that surround many existing power stations.

Coolimba is well advanced on its environmental approvals and regularly meets with local communities to update them on the project and discuss issues of local interest, including environmental management.