FinalTechnicalFeasibilityReport

PUBLICRELEASEVERSION

RATCHAustralia
CollinsvilleSolarThermalPowerStation
www.ratchaustralia.com
1|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E

TableofContents

Introduction........................................................................................................................3
FinalTechnicalFeasibilityStudyReport.............................................................................4
Plantdescription.............................................................................................................4
Generationforecast........................................................................................................6
Gasandwatersupply......................................................................................................7
Costmodelling................................................................................................................8
Riskassessment..............................................................................................................9
Projectimpacts...............................................................................................................9
Socioeconomicimpacts...............................................................................................10

Figure1:Solarfieldandfiredboilerannualproduction.....................................................7

Table1:Plantcharacteristics.............................................................................................6
Table2:Forecastproductionandcapacityfactors.............................................................6
Table3:Capitalcostestimate.............................................................................................8
Table4:O&Mcostestimate...............................................................................................8
Table5:Keyprojectrisks...................................................................................................9

2|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E

Introduction
RATCHAustraliaCorporationLimited(RAC),inpartnershipTransfieldInfrastructurePty
Limited, and The University of Queensland (UQ), is undertaking all the preparatory
development work to assess the viability of converting an existing 180MW coal fired
power station to a 30MW hybrid solar thermal / gas power station at the Collinsville
PowerStation(CPS)inQueensland(theProject).
AspartoftheProject,RACwillalsoexaminethefeasibilityofusingNovatecsSupernova
LinearFresnelSolarThermaltechnologytogeneratesuperheatedsteamtobesupplied
directlytoasteamturbinetoprovidegridconnectedelectricity.Thedualfuelboilerwill
alsobedesignedtousenaturalgastoenhancegridreliabilityfromtheProject.
TheAustralianGovernment,throughanAustralianRenewableEnergyAgencys(ARENA)
Emerging Renewables Program Funding Agreement, is partly funding the feasibility
study.

3|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E

FinalTechnicalFeasibilityStudyReport
Plantdescription
TheCSTPSisahybridpowerstationcomprisinga30MWsolarsteamgeneratoranda
gasfired boiler capable of operating independently or with the solar field to maintain
full steam supply to a conventional turbogenerator. This allows for full load solar
generationduringsunnyperiods,sharedsolar/gasgenerationduringperiodsoflowor
variable solar insolation or full gas operation during the night or during periods of
unbrokenclouds.
Theplantincludesthefollowingmainfeatures:

ANovateclinearFresnelSuperNovasolarboiler,with175,000m2ofreflectorsanda
total solar field area of 352,000m2. This comprises both evaporating and
superheatingsectionsandistodeliversteamofthequantityandqualityrequired
bythepowerblock.
A30MWnetconventionalpowerblock.Thisincludesasinglereheatsteamturbine
and a 4 pole air/water cooled generator. Rated steam conditions are 500/430 C
and120/30bar.Otherpowerblockequipmentincludesasurfacecondenseranda
circulating water condenser cooling system, feedwater heaters, deaerator and
boilerfeedpumps.
Mechanical draft cooling towerwithvariablespeedfanstoallowbothpowerand
noisereductionduringcriticalperiods.
A30MWduelfuel,quickresponseboiler.Thishasthecapabilitytosupplythefull
generation capacity and to operate at low and variable loads to supplement the
solar boiler. The primary fuel is coal seam gas with light fuel oil available as the
auxiliaryfuel.
Apackagedwatertreatmentplantcapableofsupplyingdemineralisedwaterforthe
solarandgasboilers,tomeettherequiredsteamconditionsofthesteamturbine.
Distributed control system that provides all control, protection, monitoring and
alarmingtoallowtheplanttobesafelyoperatedandmaintained.
Electrics including medium voltage switchgear, generator transformer and other
systems.
Controlroom,office,administrationandamenitiesandmaintenancefacilities.

Thesolartechnologyforthisprojectrepresentsthefirstcommercialdeploymentofthe
Novatec SuperNova direct steam generating technology. It is based on development
workatthe1.4MWtestfacilityatPuertoErradoinSpainandthecommercialsaturated
steam(30MW)projectatthesamesite.
4|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E


The CSTPS adjoins the Collinsville Coal Mine and is sited on land owned by RAC. The
plantitselfcoversapproximately40ha anduses existingpower transmissionfacilities,
auxiliaryfuel,watersupplyandwastewaterdisposalfacilitiesthatwerepartoftheold
CollinsvillePowerStationinfrastructure.Thelandisnotfloodaffectedandpreliminary
geotechnical work has identified no adverse issues that would not make this an
appropriatesite.TheprojectwillconnecttotheErgon33kVtransmissionnetworkatan
existingswitchyard.
RACiscurrentlyundertakingaprogramtomonitorsolarenergyattheprojectsite.This
hasbeenoperatingfor16monthsandwhencompleted,itwillbecalibratedagainstlong
term solar data sourced from satellites, and compared with real time satellite data
coinciding with the monitoring period. In the interim, until this monitoring program is
finished,satellitedatafortheperiod1999through2006wasobtainedfrom3Tierand
was used to define the solar resource for this study. Design annual Direct Normal
Insolation(DNI)forthisstudywas2,124kWh/m2/day.
KeyplantcharacteristicsaresummarisedinTable1.
Specification

Details

Nominaloutputgross/net

32.5MWe/30MWe

Maximumturbinecapacity

35.71MWe

Solar/collectortechnology

LinearFresnelsolarcollectors,withdirectsteam
generation

Netsolarenergyexport

55,761MWhperannum

Netgasenergyexport

78,713MWhperannum

Netplantenergyexport

134,474MWhperannum

Gasproduction%

58.5%ofnetannualproduction

Gasconsumption

23,778,353Nm3perannum

Steamcycle

Dualpressure,singlereheat

Ratedsteamconditions

Mainsteam:500C,120bar
Reheatsteam:430C,30bar

Steamturbine

Condensingreheatextractionsteamturbine

Generator

4pole,water/aircooled

Terminalvoltage

11kV

5|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E

Exportvoltage

33kV

Auxiliaryfuel

Coalseammethane/lightfueloilfiredboiler.

Coolingtype

Mechanicaldraftcoolingtowerwithwetcooled
conventionalsurfacecondenser.

Table1:Plantcharacteristics

Generationforecast
TheCSTPSisplannedtooperateatfullloadbetween0700and2200hours,Mondayto
Friday. On weekends and public holidays, it will be scheduled to run only if sufficient
solar resource is available. The gas boiler will operate to support the fullload 30MW
solar generation during the week, and to keep the plant hot and ready for solar
operationdailyandovertheweekends.
EstimatedannualgenerationandcapacityfactorsareshowninTable2.Monthlysolar
andgasgenerationforecastisshowninFigure1.
Table2:Forecastproductionandcapacityfactors

Parameter

Value

Netannualproduction(solar)

55,761MWh

Netannualproduction(gas)

75,331MWh

Netannualproduction(total)

131,092MWh

Annualcapacityfactor(solar)

21.2%

Annualcapacityfactor(gas)

28.7%

Annualcapacityfactor(total)

49.9%

6|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E

Figure1:Solarfieldandfiredboilerannualproduction

Gasandwatersupply
Fuelgasistobesuppliedbya37kmpipelinefromtheMountSaintMartinCSGfield.
The gas will be dewatered, compressed and delivered to the CSTPS site. Gas demand
will be variable, as required to meet the forecast variable operation in this operating
role. To mitigate this, it has been determined that approximately 6.5 TJ of buffer gas
storagewillbeprovidedbypackingthesupplypipelineatanelevatedpressure.Annual
gasconsumptionisestimatedtobeapproximately750TJ(LHV)peryear.
Water requirements of the CSTPS are estimated to be approximately 290 ML/annum.
Power station cooling uses 95% of this amount for cooling tower evaporation and
blowdown,andthebalanceisforboilerwater,cleaningandgeneralservices.Supplywill
come predominantly from the Bowen River Weir, supplemented by a small amount
(between 2.55%) of treated CSG water. The total requirement is approximately one
sixth of the amount currently allocated for the old Collinsville Power Station, and less
than the threshold of 10,000 m3 that would trigger the requirement of an ERA64
approval.
Waste water from CSTPS is estimated to be 44 ML/annum. This will be of a quality
suitablefordischarge totheexistingwastewaterpondsforultimate disposal intothe
local watercourse, as is currently approved for the existing Collinsville Power Station
wastewaterdischarge.
7|P a g e

PUBLICRELEASE

Costmodelling
ProjectcapitalandO&McostsforCSTPSwereestimatedandaresummarisedinTable3
andTable4below.
Item

Cost($A000)

Solarthermalsteamgenerator

98,846

Dualfiredboiler

12,173

Mechanicalplant

29,792

Electrical,instrumentationandcontrolequipment

10,902

Civilworks

14,971

Gassupplyinfrastructure

42,301

Newpowerhouseandbuildings

3,850

Balanceofplant

7,800

Landacquisition

1,500

Constructioninsurance

1,926

RACconstructionmanagement

1,500

EPCcontingency

25,991

Indirectcosts(EPCcontractorscope)

30,965

Priceadjustmentestimate

3,380

Totalcost

285,897

Table3:Capitalcostestimate
Item

Cost($A000)

Year1

5,710

Year2

5,724

Year3

5,836

Year4

5,934

Year5

5,999

Total(5years)

29,203
Table4:O&Mcostestimate

8|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E

Riskassessment
Ahighlevelriskassessmentprocessidentifiedaround27projectrisks.Aftermitigation
measureswereidentifiedandapplied,19wereclassifiedaslowtomoderaterisk,and
fourwerehightoveryhighrisk.Someofthehigh/veryhighrisksarediscussedinTable
5.
Risk
criterion

Riskdescription

Possiblecause

Existing/plannedcontrols

Riskrating

Technical
risk

Technologydoes
notoperateas
specified.

Superheatprocessis
commerciallyunproven
forNovatec.

Designforarobustsuperheat
system.

High

Peerreview/audit.
Useexperiencefromother
operatingplants.

Technical
risk

Technologydoes
notoperateas
specified.

Integrationchallengesof
firedboilerwithsolar
field.

Modellingtoanalysedynamic
responseofsteamgeneration.

High

Controlsystemdesignto
accommodaterapidtransients.
Boilerdesignforfastramprate.
Engageexperiencedvendor.
Detailedfatigueanalysis.

Deliveryrisk

Deliveryrisk

Reduced
government
funding.

Changeingovernment
policy.

Monitorgovernmentpolicy.

Satisfactory
performance
guaranteesnot
providedbyEPC
contractor.

Contractoruncertainty
withtechnologyand
performance.

Negotiateoutcome(guarantees)
suitabletobothpartiesordonot
proceedwithcontract.

Veryhigh

Communicationand
representationwithgovernment.
High

Table5:Keyprojectrisks

Projectimpacts
Surveyshaveidentifiedonlyonesensitivereceptorwithin2kmoftheCSTPS.Thisisan
unoccupiedhouseownedbytheCollinsvilleCoalMine.Constructionnoiseisassessedto
beacceptablewithnoiseincreaseoflessthan1dB(A)abovebackgroundatthenearest
occupied receptor, on the Bowen Development Road. Noise from the operating plant
wasbelowtheadoptedbackgroundnoisecreepandprojectspecificnoisegoalsduring
the day, evening, and nighttime periods, for neutral and noiseenhancing
meteorologicalconditions,atthenearestreceptor.

9|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E


Theairemissionsofmostconcernfromconstructionwereidentifiedasdustandmotor
vehicle exhaust emissions. Based on the adoption of the normal construction
managementtechniquessuchasminimisationofvehiclemovementonunpavedroads,
regular watering of access and operational areas and the expected duration of
construction works, it was determined that construction air quality impacts will be
controlledtowithinacceptablelimits.
Duringoperations,themainemissionsareexpectedtothestackemissionsfromthegas
boilerandparticulates.Emissionmodellinghasdemonstratedthattheseemissionswill
bewithinacceptablelimitsasdefinedbytheDEHPairqualityobjectives.
Asocioeconomicassessmenthasshownthattheprojectwillprovideasignificantboost
tosocialandeconomicdevelopment,predominantlyatthelocalandregionallevels.The
project supports the existing social and economic goals of various key government
agencies and their respective development frameworks including Infrastructure
Australiaandregionalandlocalplanningschemes.

Socioeconomicimpacts
The primary objective of the CSTPS project is to implement a largescale, commercial,
gridconnectedanddispatchablesolarthermalhybridpowerstationandtooperatethis
withinacompetitiveelectricitymarket.Otherobjectivesoftheprojectaretoassistwith
the development of a solar industry in Australia, encourage regional development, to
developAustralianintellectual propertyinsolar powergenerationandto developand
sharetechnicalandeconomicknowledge.
Thisprojectwouldbethefirstlargescale,purposebuiltsolargashybridpowerstation
inAustralia,andoneofthelargestofitstypeintheworld.Assuchitislikelytobethe
focusofconsiderablesocialandeconomicinterest.Theoverridingsocialandeconomic
goalsoftheprojectareto:

provideaclearpublicbenefit
make apositivelongtermsocial andeconomiccontributionatthe local,regional,
stateandnationallevel.

The purpose of this section is to describe the existing regional social and economic
environment, provide a preliminary assessment of the potential benefits and impacts
arising from the project construction and operation, and corresponding enhancement
andmitigationmeasuresforthebroaderbenefitoftheregion.
The CSTPS site is located within the Whitsunday Regional Council Local Government
Area.Theregionhasadiversifiedeconomy,basedlargelyonhorticulture,coalmining,
beefcattle,fishingandtourism.
10|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E


The project is located 10 km northwest of the twin townships of Collinsville and
Scottsville. The nearest sensitive receptor to the project is an unoccupied homestead
locatedapproximately1kmtothesoutheast.Thenearestoccupiedsitesarebetween2
km and 2.5 km to the east/northeast. While the economic base of the Whitsunday
regionshowssomediversity,theeconomicbaseofmanyofthesmallerregionalcentres
suchasCollinsvillearebasedpredominantlyaroundmining.TheCollinsvilleandSomona
minesaremajorcontributorstotheexistinglocalsocioeconomicsetting.
As at 30 June 2009, the estimated resident population of the Whitsunday region was
34,195persons,theurbancentreofBowenwas8,587personsandCollinsvillewas2,068
persons. The region also comprises a relatively high number of nonresident workers,
consistinglargelyofflyin/flyoutanddrivein/driveoutpersons.
The demographic profile of the Whitsunday region reflects the younger, mostly male,
transientpopulationsassociatedwithhighparticipationratesinthetourism,agricultural
andminingsectors.InCollinsville,almost30percentofpersonsages15yearsandover
wereemployedintheminingsector.
Theprojectsiteoffersadirectfeedintothenationalelectricitysystem,whichprovides
electricityforthegrowthincoalminingintheBowenBasinandsecurestheelectricity
supply to regional economic centres and surrounding townships. The site avoids
sensitive receptors and areas of intensive land use; avoids impacts on mapped
extractiveresources,keyresourceareas,miningleaseorminingleaseapplicationareas;
andavoidssitesofknownculturalsignificance.
DevelopmentoftheprojectisincloseproximitytotherecentlyshutdownCollinsville
PowerStation,whichisownedbyRAC.Thissituationenablestheprojecttocapitaliseon
long and recent power industry experience and existing community partnership
programsandengagementinitiativesinthelocalandregionalareas.
The total investment for the construction and commissioning of the project and
associated infrastructure (including water and power transmission) is estimated to be
$286 million. The construction period is estimated to be just over two years. The
operational costs for the project are estimated at $5.8 million per annum. The design
lifeoftheprojectis30years.
Theprojectwillprovideasignificantboosttosocialandeconomicdevelopmentatthe
local, regional and state levels. The project supports the existing social and economic
goalsofvariouskeygovernmentagenciesandtheirrespectivedevelopmentframeworks
includingInfrastructureAustraliaandregionalandlocalplanningschemes.Forexample,
thereispotentialfortheCSTPSprojecttoactasamajorcatalystfortheregionalGreen
IndustryDiversificationProject.

11|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E


Whileanumberofsocialandeconomiccostshavebeenidentified,theseareconsidered
tobemateriallyoutweighedbytheprojectbenefitstothelocalarea,regionandstate.
Thesebenefitsinclude:

a major capital investment of economic significance to the State of Queensland,

resulting in greater economic activity through the sourcing of goods and services
fromwithintheregion
increaseddiversity and robustnessof theregionaleconomythroughdevelopment
oftherenewableenergysector
further regional employment opportunities for 50 to 60 skilled and unskilled
workers during construction of the power station, solar field and associated
infrastructure;particularlyinengineeringandtechnicaltradeareas
asmalloperationsandmaintenanceworkforceoverthe30yearlifeoftheproject
and additional requirements for skilled maintenance and engineering services, as
required
skill developmentanddiversification throughthe establishmentof anewindustry
and the subsequent export of these skills to other parts of Queensland, Australia,
andoverseas
continuingsupporttothedevelopmentofsocialinfrastructureandservicesthrough
theextensionofexistinginitiativesimplementedbyRACintheprojectarea
provision of a major source of investment in renewable energy and enhanced
industry knowledge and capacity in the development and operation of a
commercialsolarthermalpowerstation.

Project construction has potential to decrease the availability and affordability of

accommodation within the local township of Collinsville. Investigations will be
undertaken during the project approvals process to identify construction workforce
housing options and determine the most appropriate housing and infrastructure
strategyfortheconstructionphase.
Construction of the solar thermal power station is expected to contribute between
$0.36 and $0.46 million per annum in gross region product (GRP) and between $10.4
and$13.4millionper annumingross state product(GSP).Thisisexpected tosupport
between14and15fulltimeequivalentjobsregionallyandbetween146and195full
timeequivalentjobsthroughoutthestate.
Operation of the solar thermal power station is expected to contribute between $1.6
and$2.0millionperannuminGRP,and$1.3and$1.6millionperannuminGSP.Thisis
expected to support between 20 and 26 fulltime equivalent jobs regionally and
between37and49fulltimeequivalentjobsthroughoutthestate.

12|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E


The potential social and economic benefits associated with the CSTPS project
developmentaresignificantandlongtermatthelocal,regionalandstatelevels.These
benefits include a major source of renewable energy, regional employment, industry
diversification and research and development. Should the project proceed to the
detailed design stage, the results of this assessment will be supplemented by further
social and economic investigations and more stakeholder consultation to support the
developmentapprovalprocess.

13|P a g e P U B L I C R E L E A S E