Item from BHP website on power requirements for Olympic Dam is...

Item from BHP website on power requirements for Olympic Dam is below. The expansion project will consume a fair whack of SAs current power usage.

Even if they decide to enhance the transmission capacity it will be a good outcome for GRK (and PTR). They will be able to reverse the flow when they are up and running and BHP will have paid for the infrastructure. This option will most likely mean building a new coal fired plant at Port Augusta however, and BHP will be facing some political pressure to look into the renewable options.

GRK project is further advanced than GHT in that they have drilled a well, measured temperatures etc. They have also recently done similar work at the BHP site, which provides evidence that the thermal reservoir is extensive, without the expense of drilling more holes themselves.



From http://odx.bhpbilliton.com/expansion/infrastructure.asp

Energy Supply

The Olympic Dam operation is connected to the state electricity supply grid via transmission lines with an average total load of 120 megawatts.

The proposed development may require between 300 and 400 megawatts of additional power.

The infrastructure team has investigated a number of options to meet the base load, which include:

* an additional transmission line from the state electricity supply grid
* natural gas pipeline and onsite power generation
* renewable options are being assessed to augment the base load requirement.

The preferred option is currently to install an additional transmission line from the state electricity supply grid supplemented by renewable energy.