Doubts on Australia’s largest desal plant as construction races ahead

January 25th, 2010 by Tatiana Mijalica

CONSTRUCTION workers are just weeks away from starting to lay the 84km of pipeline for Australia’s largest desalination plant, with the $3.5 billion project on track for production next year.

The development of the controversial plant, located on Victoria’s east coast, has also led to a rise in real estate prices and rents in neighbouring towns as more than 500 workers head to the site by March.

But just 10 months out from the state election, some residents are concerned the town of Wonthaggi does not have the infrastructure to cope with the influx of people working on the project — a public-private partnership — and are still upset with how the Brumby government handled the development process.

“There certainly remains some disquiet and concerns about the development in the community,” said Nationals leader Peter Ryan, whose electorate borders the plant. “They feel they have been ambushed by the government and they will never forget it.”

The government awarded the tender in July to the AquaSure consortium — comprised of French company Degremont, local constructor Thiess and financier Macquarie — and construction began in October.

Taxpayers will foot $5.7bn for the project, which will pay for the construction of the 150-gigalitre plant and 150 billion litres of water a year for the next 30 years.

Critics have labelled the project as far too expensive and bad for the environment, but Water Minister Tim Holding said the desalination plant would be the state’s insurance policy against drought and climate change.

“Having a new source of water that is not dependent on rainfall, instead of relying almost exclusively on water from dams, will prove to be one of the biggest changes in urban water management in Victoria’s history,” he said.

Thiess Degremont project manager Greg Miller said they had been on the site for 100 days and had made good progress.

“We’ve got orders for the pipeline and power cable in place with local suppliers so we’re all set to start pipe laying over the coming weeks,” he said.

Source: The Australian