The South Australian Government has called for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from companies seeking to build South Australia’s state-owned gas-fired power station.
The EOI for the generator, which will have a capacity of up to 250MW, is open and will remain open for two weeks.
The gas generator will be the first piece of electricity infrastructure built and owned by the State Government since the previous Liberal government privatised ETSA 18 years ago.
The generator will be able to start up and dispatch electricity quickly if needed in emergency situations and will also be able to provide grid-stability services year-round.
It is estimated that procurement of the emergency backup generation will cost a total of about $360 million. Detailed costing will be provided in the State Budget.
South Australian Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said, “The national electricity market is failing South Australians. In February we saw the national operator and SAPN unnecessarily switch off power to 90,000 customers.
“Once constructed, the State Government will be able to dispatch electricity from our own generator, as well as from a grid-scale battery, in order to help prevent against future load-shedding events.”
Mr Koutsantonis said South Australian businesses shouldn’t be faced with losing power during peak trading periods, and households shouldn’t have to worry about losing electricity supply during sweltering heat.
“This brand-new gas generator will be the first state-owned electricity infrastructure since the Liberals sold ETSA.
“Through this plan we are building generation and storage capacity, using our own procurement to bring additional generation into the market and incentivising the production of more gas to be supplied to local power stations.
“We are taking charge of our energy future to boost competition, improve grid security and put downward pressure on power prices.”
