Port Hedland Power Station Expansion | Alinta Energy
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Port Hedland Power Station SECTION 38 REFERRAL SUPPORTING DOCUMENT Prepared for Alinta Energy 10 June 2021 Port Hedland Power Station Expansion | Alinta Energy Prepared For: Alinta Energy Level 18 Raine Square, 300 Murray Street PERTH WA 6000 Prepared by: Blueprint Environmental Strategies Pty Ltd Suite 3, Level 3, 1292 Hay Street WEST PERTH WA 6005 ABN: 28 617 672 778 Distribution: Document Title File Name Version Date Prepared by Issued to: No. Port Hedland Power Station Siobhan Pelliccia, Russell Slaughter, Blueprint Project Development Port Hedland Power SECTION 38 V.01 10/06/2021 Environmental Manager Station Expansion REFERRAL Strategies Pty Ltd Environmental, Alinta SUPPORTING (Director) Energy DOCUMENT PHPS EPA Referral Supporting Document_FINAL Port Hedland Power Station Expansion | Alinta Energy Executive Summary The Port Hedland Power Station (PHPS, the Project) is located on Lot 255 on Deposited Plan 192056 approximately 12 km south of the Port Hedland town centre and approximately 5 km west of South Hedland. The PHPS is owned and operated by Alinta Energy (Alinta) through its wholly owned subsidiary Alinta DEWAP Pty Ltd. The PHPS operates under Environmental Protection Act 1986 Licence L7336/1998/10 for the following Prescribed Premises Category: • Category 52: Electric power generation: Premises (other than Premises within Category 53 or an emergency or standby power generating plant) on which electrical power is generated using a fuel. Alinta proposes to expand and improve the efficiency of the PHPS through installation of 60 Megawatts (MW) of high efficiency reciprocating engines (recips) (the Proposal. The new recips will displace energy supplied by the existing (less-efficient) turbines resulting in reduced gas consumption and emissions at all power station loads. Based on forecast customer loads, the Proposal is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 100,0000 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (tCO2-e) per annum. An option to install a 40MW battery energy storage system is also included in the Proposal, which would further reduce carbon emissions. Based on Environmental Factor Guideline: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (EPA 2020b) and following consultation with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) it was determined that the proposal triggered the requirement for referral under Section 38 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. This document has been prepared to support the Section 38 Referral. A summary of the proposal and the key characteristics of the proposal are provided in Table 1 and Table 2 respectively. Table 1: Summary of the Proposal Proposal Title Port Hedland Power Station Expansion (the Proposal) Proponent Name Alinta DEWAP Pty Ltd Short Description The Proposal includes the installation of a 60 Megawatts (MW) natural gas fuelled reciprocating engine generating set with an option for a 40 MW battery energy storage system. Table 2: Proposal Key Characteristics Element Location Proposed Extent Physical Elements • At forecast loads, the Proposal reduces emissions by >100,000 tCO2-e per annum. • Potential increase of up to 249,927 tCO2-e per Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Section 4.3 annum under worst-case extreme high load scenario (with this increase avoided through the proposed emissions cap and offsetting mechanism). Operational Elements • 60 MW power island comprised of natural gas Power Generation Key Figure 2 fuelled reciprocating engine generating sets. Infrastructure • Exhaust stacks. • Optional 40 MW battery energy storage system Energy Storage Figure 2 (BESS). • Engine Hall(s) to house reciprocating engine generating sets. Supporting Infrastructure Figure 2 • 1 x Control room and ancillary equipment. • 1 x Switchyard Bays. PHPS EPA Referral Supporting Document_FINAL I Port Hedland Power Station Expansion | Alinta Energy An assessment of the Proposal has been undertaken against the “Statement of Environmental Principles, Factors and Objectives” (EPA 2020a) which identified Greenhouse Gas Emissions as the key environmental factor of relevance to the proposed project, due to the potential for the proposal to exceed 100,000 tCO2-e per annum. When considered in isolation of the existing facility, the new reciprocating engines have the potential to emit up to 249,827 tCO2-e per annum. However, this new generation displaces less efficient generation from the existing gas turbines, and the total impact of the Proposal at forecast loads of 60-90MW is therefore expected to be a reduction in carbon emissions of >100,000tCO2-e per annum. Alinta recognises that under extreme high load scenarios, the proposed increase to the maximum capacity of the PHPS has the potential to increase the production of GHG emissions. To ensure this does not occur, Alinta will impose a net emissions cap of 996,412 tCO2-e per year, which is the volume of greenhouse gas emissions that could be released by the existing licensed power station if run at full load 24/7 (prior to the proposed additional 60 MW recip engines). Any exceedance above this cap would be offset by the surrender of recognised GHG offsets, which will be managed through Alinta’s Greenhouse Gas Management Plan. Other environmental factors considered in this referral are Air Quality and Social Surroundings, however it is concluded that the Proposal does not pose a significant impact to these factors. All other factors are not considered applicable to the proposed project. Relevant stakeholders have been engaged as part of the proposed expansion to PHPS including the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), the Kimberley/Pilbara/Gascoyne Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel and the Town of Port Hedland. Alinta views this proposal as a positive step towards improved efficiency in power generation which ultimately facilitates the goal of minimising the risk of environmental harm associated with climate change. PHPS EPA Referral Supporting Document_FINAL II Port Hedland Power Station Expansion | Alinta Energy Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................... I 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 PROPONENT .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCESS .................................................................................. 1 1.3.1 Environmental Protection Act 1986 – Part IV....................................................................................... 1 1.3.2 Environmental Protection Act 1986 – Part V........................................................................................ 2 1.3.3 Planning and Development Act 2005................................................................................................... 2 1.3.4 Electricity Industry Act 2004................................................................................................................. 2 1.3.5 Dangerous Goods Safety Act 2004 ..................................................................................................... 2 2. THE PROPOSAL ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................................ 3 2.2 JUSTIFICATION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 2.3 PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.4 LOCAL AND REGIONAL CONTEXT ............................................................................................................ 4 2.4.1 Site Details ........................................................................................................................................... 4 2.4.2 Environmental Assets .......................................................................................................................... 7 3. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT .............................................................................................................. 10 3.1 KEY STAKEHOLDERS............................................................................................................................ 10 3.2 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY ............................................................................................. 10 3.3 STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION ............................................................................................................ 11 4. ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND FACTORS ....................................................................................... 13 4.1 PRINCIPLES ......................................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS .................................................................................................................. 14 4.3 KEY ENVIRONMENTAL