"Green tape ties up power plans by: John McCarthy From: The...

"Green tape ties up power plans

by: John McCarthy
From: The Courier-Mail
January 25, 2012 12:00AM

THE State Government has told Carbon Energy to lift its environmental standards and has so far rejected an application from the company to boost output of a gas-fired power station near Chinchilla.

The company, which is fuelling the mini power station through the underground coal gasification process, wanted to up its output to 5 megawatts and said it had been frustrated by delays within the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

DERM told the company late last year it required a further extension to determine the application and requested additional information.

Carbon said the information requested would take several months to collate and DERM had now advised of a further extension to April this year.

"The board of directors is frustrated by DERM's continuing delays and continues to engage actively with all stakeholders to expedite the delivery of power in Queensland using our industry-leading technology," the company said.

But Environment Minister Vicky Darling said the company had so far failed to satisfy the required environmental standards and made no apologies for its strict regulations.

"We are not going to take risks with Queensland's environment," Ms Darling said.

"Carbon Energy's applications for extended operations have not satisfied the required environmental standards, containing insufficient or inconsistent information about how the environment will be protected.

"In December, DERM provided Carbon Energy with a 19-page notice outlining why their application wasn't up to standard. The ball is in Carbon Energy's court.

"We are not about to back down and allow a company to operate without the proper standards in place."

Carbon Energy's Bloodwood Creek project is one of three trial underground coal gasification projects in Queensland.

Carbon said it was performing above expectations, producing among the highest quality UCG gas of its kind.

The company said: "The energy produced at Bloodwood Creek will be plugged back into the grid to support local communities and can be sold at prices not under pressure of global price parity."

It said it was now ready to test exporting electricity to the local area network. "

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