Snowy Hydro CEO Says Queensland Blackouts Warrant Kurri Kurri Gas Plant

BY JARROD MELMETH

The boss of the planned gas-fired power station at Kurri Kurri says New South Wales will suffer the same fate as Queensland if the project doesn't go ahead.

The comments follow a blackout on Tuesday which affected 470,000 customers after an explosion at the Callide Power Station in Queensland.

Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad was the subject of a senate estimates hearing on Tuesday where he says such plants were needed to manage risks such as the Callide explosion.

"There is a hospital in Queensland on emergency diesel right now. This is deadly serious to people in serious predicaments.

"We sit here today, and, let me tell you I spend my life thinking about this," Mr Broad said.

Last week the federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor confirmed the government would be handing over $600 million to Snowy Hydro to construct the 660 Megawatt open cycle gas turbine on the former Kurri Kurri aluminum smelter.

The project has received mixed reactions from all sides of politics, business and advocacy groups.

Paul Broad during Senate Estimates.

Gas Fired Power Plant At Kurri Kurri Gets Go Ahead

 BY IAN CROUCH

The federal government is pressing ahead with a gas-fired power plant at Kurri Kurri.

Energy Minister, Angus Taylor has confirmed government-owned Snowy Hydro Limited has been given $600 million to build the 660 megawatt plant on the site of the former Hydro Aluminium Smelter.

It's expected to be generating power in time for summer in 2023/24 despite an Environmental Impact Statement showing it will need to run on diesel for at least six months while a permanent gas connection to the Sydney-Newcastle gas pipeline is completed.

The project is expected to create 600 construction jobs and 1200 indirect jobs, however the plant itself will only need 10 people to operate it.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor said new gas supply would strengthen the economy and make energy more affordable.

The Kurri Kurri plant is part of a strategy to avoid a rise in power prices once the Liddell Power Station closes in 2023.

The power plant will be built on the site of the former Hydro Aluminium Smelter