Bluewaters Power Station Griffin Energy Pty Ltd Report and recommendations of the Environmental Protection Authority Environmental Protection Authority Perth, Western Australia Bulletin 1160 January 2005 Environmental Impact Assessment Process Timelines Date Progress stages Time (weeks) 08/09/03 Level of Assessment set (following any appeals upheld) 2 31/05/04 Proponent Document Released for Public Comment 38 26/07/04 Public Comment Period Closed 8 2/12/04 Final Proponent response to the issues raised 19 17/01/05 EPA report to the Minister for the Environment 6 ISBN. 0 7307 6801 5 ISSN. 1030 - 0120 Assessment No. 1487 Summary and recommendations Griffin Energy Pty Ltd proposes to construct and operate the 200 megawatt (MW) Bluewaters Power Station on a site located approximately 4km north-east of Collie. This report provides the Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA’s) advice and recommendations to the Minister for the Environment on the environmental factors relevant to the proposal. Section 44 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986 requires the EPA to report to the Minister for the Environment on the environmental factors relevant to the proposal and on the conditions and procedures to which the proposal should be subject, if implemented. In addition, the EPA may make recommendations as it sees fit. Relevant environmental factors The EPA decided that the following environmental factors relevant to the proposal required detailed evaluation in the report: (a) Greenhouse gas emissions; (b) Atmospheric emissions; (c) Liquid and solid waste disposal; (d) Surface water and groundwater; and (e) Noise. There were a number of other factors which were relevant to the proposal, but the EPA is of the view that the information set out in Appendix 3 provides sufficient evaluation. Conclusion The EPA has considered the proposal by Griffin Energy Pty Ltd to construct and operate the 200 MW Bluewaters Power Station on a site located approximately 4km north-east of Collie. The EPA considers that combined cycle, gas fueled power plants represent best practice for large scale power generation. The proposed 200MW coal fired plant will produce an extra 620,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year compared to a combined cycle gas turbine plant of equivalent capacity. The EPA has previously advised that it expects proponents to mitigate all or part of the extra greenhouse gases produced. The EPA is satisfied that the proponent has investigated mitigation actions and notes that the quantity of greenhouse gases to be directly offset is about 201,000 tonnes per annum which is a worthwhile and useful package. It is, however, about 419,000 tonnes per annum less than the additional greenhouse gases produced by this proposal compared to a combined cycle gas turbine plant of equivalent capacity. i If a decision is made so that the proposal may be implemented, the EPA considers that the offsets offered by the proponent should be made legally enforceable and tied to this proposal for the life of the proposal. The EPA recognises that the issue of greenhouse gas management is a matter for judgment and that decisions about this proposal will include consideration of broader economic, regional development and strategic issues which are outside the scope of the EPA. From an environmental perspective, the EPA advises that a coal fired power station without full offsets will not deliver the best environmental outcome. The EPA also considers that the proposal does not represent best practice for sulphur dioxide emissions management and recommends that European Directive 2001/80/EC for outer regions be considered as the standard if the proposal proceeds to the Department of Environment licensing stage. With the exception of greenhouse gas management, the EPA has therefore concluded that it is unlikely that the EPA’s objectives would be compromised, provided there is satisfactory implementation by the proponent of their commitments and the recommended conditions set out in Appendix 4, and summarised in Section 4. The EPA also wishes to draw attention to the advice provided in Section 5 of this report in relation to air quality, offsets and the equitable internalisation of full environmental costs when considering proposals of this nature. Recommendations The EPA submits the following recommendations to the Minister for the Environment: 1. That the Minister notes that the proposal being assessed is for construction and operation of the 200 MW Bluewaters Power Station on a site located approximately 4km north-east of Collie. 2. That the Minister considers the report on the relevant environmental factors as set out in Section 3. 3. That the Minister notes that the EPA has concluded that, with the exception of greenhouse gas management, it is unlikely that the EPA’s objectives would be compromised, provided there is satisfactory implementation by the proponent of their commitments and the recommended conditions set out in Appendix 4, and summarised in Section 4. 4. That the Minister imposes the conditions and procedures recommended in Appendix 4 of this report. Conditions Having considered the proponent’s commitments and information provided in this report, the EPA has developed a set of conditions that the EPA recommends be imposed if the proposal by Griffin Energy Pty Ltd to construct and operate the 200 MW Bluewaters Power Station on a site located approximately 4km north-east of Collie is approved for implementation. These conditions are presented in Appendix 4. Matters addressed in the conditions include the following: ii (a) that the proponent shall fulfil the commitments in the Consolidated Commitments statement set out as an attachment to the recommended conditions in Appendix 4; (b) preparation and implementation of a greenhouse gas Emissions management plan; (c) preparation and implementation of a stack emissions management plan; and (d) compliance audit and performance reviews and a decommissioning plan. iii Contents Page Summary and recommendations.................................................................................i 1. Introduction and background.............................................................................1 2. The proposal.........................................................................................................1 3. Relevant environmental factors..........................................................................7 3.1 Greenhouse gas emissions .........................................................................7 3.2 Atmospheric emissions ............................................................................13 3.3 Liquid and solid waste disposal ...............................................................17 3.4 Surface water and groundwater ...............................................................20 3.5 Noise ........................................................................................................21 4. Conditions and Commitments ..........................................................................23 4.1 Proponent’s commitments .......................................................................23 4.2 Recommended conditions........................................................................24 5. Other Advice.......................................................................................................24 5.1 Industrial buffer………………………………………………………….24 5.2 Air quality management in the Collie region……………………………24 5.3 Greenhouse gas differential between fuel sources………………………25 6. Conclusions.........................................................................................................26 7. Recommendations..............................................................................................27 Tables Table 1: Summary of key proposal characteristics.......................................................6 Table 2: Proposed emissions compared to European Commission limits……...……15 Figures 1. Regional location...................................................................................................3 2. Plant layout............................................................................................................4 3. Input - output flow diagram ...................................................................................5 Appendices 1. List of submitters 2. References 3. Summary of identification of relevant environmental factors 4. Recommended Environmental Conditions and Proponent’s Consolidated Commitments 5. Summary of submissions and proponent’s response to submissions 6. Letter from Western Power 1. Introduction and background This report provides the advice and recommendations of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to the Minister for the Environment on the environmental factors relevant to the proposal by Griffin Energy Pty Ltd, to construct and operate the 200 MW Bluewaters Power Station on a site located approximately 4km north-east of Collie. The proposal was referred to the EPA on 25 August 2003, and on 8 September 2003 the level of assessment was set at Public Environmental Review (PER) under Section 38 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. The PER document was made available for a public review period of 8 weeks commencing on 31 May 2004 and ending on 26 July 2004. The EPA’s decision to assess the proposal at the level of PER was based on 5 main factors, namely greenhouse gas emissions, atmospheric emissions, liquid and solid waste disposal, surface water and groundwater, and noise. Further