Tallawarra Stage B - Power Station Project
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Tallawarra Stage B - Power Station Project PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FINAL 6 September 2007 Tallawarra Stage B - Power Station Project PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FINAL 6 September 2007 Sinclair Knight Merz ABN 37 001 024 095 100 Christie Street PO Box 164 St Leonards NSW Australia 1590 Tel: +61 2 9928 2100 Fax: +61 2 9928 2500 Web: www.skmconsulting.com COPYRIGHT: The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of TRUenergy Pty Ltd. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of TRUenergy constitutes an infringement of copyright. LIMITATION: This report has been prepared on behalf of and for the exclusive use of Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd’s Client, and is subject to and issued in connection with the provisions of the agreement between Sinclair Knight Merz and its Client. Sinclair Knight Merz accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report by any third party. The SKM logo is a trade mark of Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd. © Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd, 2006 Preliminary Environmental Assessment Contents Summary 1 1. Introduction 3 1.1 Purpose of the Document 3 1.2 The Proponent 4 1.3 Background 4 1.3.1 Tallawarra Lands 5 2. Description of Proposed Development 6 2.1 Overview 6 2.2 Gas Turbine Power Station 6 2.2.1 Cooling System 8 2.2.2 Fuel 8 2.3 Ancillary Infrastructure 9 2.3.1 Emissions Control 9 2.3.2 Transformers and High Voltage Switchyard 9 2.3.3 Chemicals and Oil storage 9 2.3.4 Emergency Diesel Generators 10 2.3.5 Water 10 2.3.6 Sewage Treatment 10 2.3.7 Site Office and Workshop 10 2.3.8 Site Access and Parking 10 2.4 Workforce and Hours of Operation 10 2.5 Alternatives and Justification 11 2.5.1 Alternatives Considered to Date 11 2.5.2 Justification for Project 12 3. Planning Considerations and Consultation 13 3.1 Planning Considerations 13 3.2 Authority Consultation 15 3.3 Community Consultation and Social Impact Assessment 15 4. Preliminary Environmental Assessment 17 4.1 Environmental and Community Context 17 4.1.1 Land Ownership 17 4.2 Assessment of Key Issues 17 4.2.1 Air Quality & Greenhouse Gas Emissions 17 4.2.2 Noise 19 4.2.3 Water 19 SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Deliverables\PEA\CCGT\PEA_combined_final_V2.doc PAGE i Preliminary Environmental Assessment 4.2.4 Hazard Analysis 20 4.3 Other Environmental Issues 21 Figures 1 Locality Plan 2 Site Layout SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ PAGE ii I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Deliverables\PEA\CCGT\PEA_combined_final_V2.doc Preliminary Environmental Assessment Summary This report provides a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to support TRUenergy’s Project Application for the Tallawarra Stage B Gas Power Station Project. The report identifies key environmental issues associated with the project and ultimately supports an application to the Minister for Planning under Section 75J(1) for project approval. TRUenergy is currently constructing a 400MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Power Station at Yallah, on the shores of Lake Illawarra some 13km South of Wollongong in the Illawarra district of NSW. The Power Station is sited on part of the area previously occupied by the Tallawarra coal fired power station. TRUenergy wishes to proceed with Stage B of the project which involves the siting of either a CCGT power station, to provide intermediate to baseload electricity, or an OCGT power station to supplement electricity supply during times of peak demand. The Stage B Power Station will be sited adjacent to the Tallawarra A CCGT Power Station. A shortfall in electricity supply is predicted to occur in NSW within the next few years. The key objective of the proposal is to provide additional electricity supply in NSW to address the predicted shortfalls. Determination of the nature of the market need (i.e. base load electricity or peaking supply) will be subject to detailed market analysis following approval for the project. The preliminary desktop investigations and site visit conducted in February 2007 indicate that the key environmental issues for the Tallawarra Stage B OCGT/CCGT project include: Air quality impacts; Greenhouse gas emissions; Noise impacts; Water impacts; and Hazards and risk impacts. A summary of the key environmental issues listed above is provided in the report. The intent of the discussion provided in this report is to demonstrate the proponent’s existing understanding of the issues and the need for further environmental assessment of these issues. The potential impacts and management of other issues such as land use, flora and fauna, heritage, socio-economics, traffic, waste management, soils, surface water and groundwater and the reasons they have not been designated as key issues to this process, are also discussed in this report. It is proposed that these other issues will be addressed in sufficient detail to assess the level of their SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Deliverables\PEA\CCGT\PEA_combined_final_V2.doc PAGE 1 Preliminary Environmental Assessment impacts (if any). It is anticipated that any impacts identified will be able to be managed through appropriate mitigation measures and management plans. The management of both key issues and these secondary issues will be handled through a Statement of Commitments and the Conditions of Approval of the project, which will determine the requirements for environmental management. SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ PAGE 2 I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Deliverables\PEA\CCGT\PEA_combined_final_V2.doc Preliminary Environmental Assessment 1. Introduction TRUenergy is currently constructing a 400MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Power Station at Yallah, on the shores of Lake Illawarra some 13 kilometres south of Wollongong. The Power Station is located on the part of the site previously occupied by the Tallawarra coal fired power station. TRUenergy is now looking to proceed with Stage B of the project which involves development of either a CCGT Power Station, to provide intermediate to baseload electricity, or an Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) Power Station to supplement electricity supply during times of peak demand. Determination of the nature of the market need (i.e. base load electricity or peaking supply) will be subject to detailed market analysis following approval for the project. The development of any additional Power Station on the site adjacent to the Tallawarra A Power Station provides economic and practical benefits through the co location of the facilities and use of existing resources. The project will comprise, either: A single unit gas fired CCGT plant with a notional capacity of 400MW; or Two or three OCGT peaking units with a notional capacity of 300 - 450MW. The units will require duel fuel burners with a liquid fuel as a backup. The project site and surrounding “Tallawarra Lands” owned by TRUenergy is shown on Figure 1. Approximately 2 hectare of the Tallawarra Lands area (565 hectares) is required for Tallawarra Stage B project (refer to Figure 2), although a buffer area around the Power Station of approximately 35 hectares will be maintained. The Project is considered to be classed as a ‘Major Project’ under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (refer to Section 3.1). TRUenergy have since sought Ministerial authorisation to proceed under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. 1.1 Purpose of the Document This Preliminary Environmental Assessment has been prepared to: support TRUenergy’s Project Application for the Tallawarra Stage B Project; brief the relevant government agencies about the proposed development; assist the Director-General of the Department of Planning (DoP) to develop Environmental Assessment requirements; introduce the environmental studies conducted to date; and SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Deliverables\PEA\CCGT\PEA_combined_final_V2.doc PAGE 3 Legend ° WOLLONGONG Tallawarra Lands PORT KEMBLA DAPTO Stage B Area 0 250 500 ALBION PARK Metres JAMBEROO KIAMA 1:25,000AtA4 GERROA Source: Aerial supplied by NSW Dept of Lands, Figure 1- Locality Plan Topographic data by Streetworks. March 2, 2007 EN02239 - Tallawarra Site Masterplan I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Technical\GIS\Template\EN02239_To_002.mxd Legend ° WOLLONGONG PORT KEMBLA Stage B Area DAPTO 0 50 100 ALBION PARK Metres JAMBEROO KIAMA 1:5,000 AtA4 GERROA Source: Aerial supplied by NSW Dept of Lands, Figure 2 - Site Layout Topographic data by Streetworks. February 13, 2007 EN02239 - Tallawarra Site Masterplan I:\ENVR\Projects\EN02239\Technical\GIS\Template\EN02239_To_001.mxd Preliminary Environmental Assessment identify key issues to be addressed in the Environmental Assessment Report prepared to support the Project Application. References in this document to the ‘project area’ relate to the proposed Tallawarra Stage B site and land required for ancillary facilities associated with the project, including existing facilities and their immediate surrounds. 1.2 The Proponent TRUenergy is part of the CLP Group. The CLP Group strives to be the leading investor-operator in the Asia-Pacific electric power industry. CLP invests and operates power plants and systems in Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Australia, India, Thailand and Taiwan. TRUenergy comprises the former TXU Australia, Yallourn Energy and Auspower businesses. TRUenergy provides electricity and natural gas to residents and businesses in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland. It also owns power stations in Victoria, South Australia and has the Tallawarra Power Station under development in New South Wales. 1.3 Background In 1954 a coal fired power station was constructed on the site, which operated until 1989. The former plant and much of its ancillary buildings have been demolished and the operational areas of the site remediated. The then owner of the site, Pacific Power, prepared an Environmental Impact Statement in 1998 to support the Development Application for a new combined cycle gas turbine CCGT power station.