COM: Port Stanvac Desalination Plant | 100gL | $1.8b

[Jim]

I recently learned that given the intermittent nature of wind power, a lot of work is being done to develop predictive tools to manage wind systems. This is because It is harder to integrate wind energy into the grid and there has to be a certain amount of base load generation to off set it. Apparently this off set can be made with Victoria given its large base load coal generation capacity, however our interconnectors were originally designed to bring power into SA not export it and there are some limiting factors. As a result I was wondering if desalination plants can be designed to operate to capacity in high wind generation times so that we are storing our wind energy in stored desalination water capacity? Would this not make both wind power and desalination more viable? or does the desalination process require a constant supply of power??

[Wayno]

As a result I was wondering if desalination plants can be designed to operate to capacity in high wind generation times so that we are storing our wind energy in stored desalination water capacity? Would this not make both wind power and desalination more viable? or does the desalination process require a constant supply of power??

The Sydney desal plant will source its energy from wind. Babcock & Brown were yesterday granted the energy supply contract and will operate a 64 turbine wind farm at Bungendore, near Canberra. I'm not sure if electricity will be sourced from traditional sources during periods of no wind. Maybe the plant just stops operating for this period?

FYI, Sydney's $1.9b desal plant is now under construction and will be operational by the summer of 2009-10

Source: AFR 31/7

[Jim]

As a result I was wondering if desalination plants can be designed to operate to capacity in high wind generation times so that we are storing our wind energy in stored desalination water capacity? Would this not make both wind power and desalination more viable? or does the desalination process require a constant supply of power??

The Sydney desal plant will source its energy from wind. Babcock & Brown were yesterday granted the energy supply contract and will operate a 64 turbine wind farm at Bungendore, near Canberra. I'm not sure if electricity will be sourced from traditional sources during periods of no wind. Maybe the plant just stops operating for this period?

FYI, Sydney's $1.9b desal plant is now under construction and will be operational by the summer of 2009-10

Source: AFR 31/7

I was thinking, with the new raised dam wall at (is it Happy Valley)? we could just desalinate water when the wind is blowing for later use. Great concept in Sydney.

[Pat28]

I believe the new dam wall was for Mt Bold

[Norman]

I think that was Mount Bold.

[Wayno]

i believe the trial Desal Plant starts operating today - producing something like 100 kilolitres a day. Not sure where it goes though, probably straight back into the gulf...

[Norman]

i believe the trial Desal Plant starts operating today - producing something like 100 kilolitres a day. Not sure where it goes though, probably straight back into the gulf...

Yep.

[rhino]

From the Messenger:

Pain in the pipe
Tim Williams, 16/09/2008

WATER from Port Stanvac’s new desalination plant will be pumped to metropolitan Adelaide through a $300 million pipe network likely to run through the eastern suburbs, causing serious disruption to residents and traffic.
To distribute the desalinated water beyond the southern suburbs after Port Stanvac opens in 2011, a pipe network will be built connecting Happy Valley reservoir to storage locations further north, such as at Hope Valley and Kangaroo Creek.
The cheapest, most direct route will be under parts of the eastern suburbs, possibly along the lower foothills in a construction project that environmentalists and local mayors say could cause havoc.
SA Water has started drafting plans for the $304 million inter-connector pipeline to open by 2014. The exact route is not yet known.
``Because it is in the very early planning stages we are yet to determine its specific details,’’ SA Water’s chief operating officer John Ringham told the Eastern Courier.
In Sydney, where construction of an 18km pipeline to carry desalinated water is already under way, residents in hundreds of streets are facing two years of road closures, traffic disruptions and compulsory property acquisitions.
Some have also filed complaints about structural damage to their homes caused by the works.
Greens MLC Mark Parnell said the Adelaide inter-connector pipeline was a waste of money and would inevitably cause major disruptions.
``I can’t imagine a route between north and south that doesn’t involve crossing major roads and acquiring property,’’ he said. ``If the government thinks the community is so on-side with desal, as they say it is, they should come clean (about the route).
``I say, show us the maps.’’
Eastern suburbs’ councils contacted were unaware if a major pipeline was planned or how it could affect their districts.
``This is the first I’ve heard of it,’’ Burnside CEO Neil Jacobs said.
Mitcham Mayor Ivan Brooks: `Fancy (the pipeline) having to go down Portrush Rd with all the disruptions that have gone on there already. I just can’t believe they would do that ... right through the heart of the suburbs. Why not clean the stormwater? It would have to be cheaper surely? It’s a damn sight less
pipework to put in.’’
Campbelltown Mayor Simon Brewer: ``I can imagine them digging along the O’Bahn route through Linear Park. I don’t think (that) would be very welcome.’’
Environmental consultant Richard Clark, the co-author of a report on sustainable water options for Adelaide released last week, said the pipeline may not be necessary if the State Government and SA Water considered stormwater and effluent recycling alternatives.
``If stormwater and wastewater are going to utilised long-term, and I think that’s inevitable, the whole concept of reticulation and pipe networks needs to be rethought’’.
Last December Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald announced: ``A $304 million inter-connector pipeline, to be completed in 2014, will connect reservoirs in the north and south of Adelaide, providing greater flexibility in managing Adelaide’s water distribution system.’’
Last week, Ms Maywald said ``an extensive community engagement and communication program’’ on the pipeline would commence in late 2010.


If the government considered stormwater and effluent recycling systems, wouldn't the pipelines to the filtration plants (where the reticulated water comes from) still be necessary? Or is it assumed that there would be stormwater and effluent recycling systems scattered all over the suburbs, negating the need for a pipe to the reservoir?

[Wayno]

ok you guys, here's a challenge - see which S-A member can come up with the "least disruptive" route for the pipeline get onto google maps and show them how it should be done!

least disruptive = least traffic nightmares, least compulsory housing purchase, etc...

[AG]

ok you guys, here's a challenge - see which S-A member can come up with the "least disruptive" route for the pipeline get onto google maps and show them how it should be done!

least disruptive = least traffic nightmares, least compulsory housing purchase, etc...

I would but I'm too busy doing pretty much exactly the same thing for another project I am currently doing at uni.

[mattblack]

I read the same article a few days back and started spitting chips over the speculative dribble it involved. The only possible route I see for the pipeline would involve taking out as many Nimby, shortsighted, idiotic eastern suburban properties as humanly possible. Two birds with one stone

[frank1]

I read the same article a few days back and started spitting chips over the speculative dribble it involved. The only possible route I see for the pipeline would involve taking out as many Nimby, shortsighted, idiotic eastern suburban properties as humanly possible. Two birds with one stone

That's a bit unfair as i live in the eatern suburbs. I hope my house doesn't go.

[SRW]

Desalinisation plant ready a year early, at a cost
GREG KELTON, STATE EDITOR
The 'Tiser, 23 September 2008

TAXPAYERS may have to pay more for the new $1.1 billion desalination plant to have it producing water a year earlier than originally planned.

Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald yesterday said there would be "a marginal increase in costs".

But both she and Premier Mike Rann would not give any indication of what the extra costs would be for fear it could harm the bidding process.

"We want to get the best value for SA," Ms Maywald said.

Mr Rann revealed the move to have the Port Stanvac plant on stream earlier than planned when announcing that three bidders had been shortlisted to build the plant.

Another two companies are on the shortlist to build the $100 million pipeline connecting the plant to the Happy Valley water treatment plant. Mr Rann said the pipeline would be below ground.

He said Cabinet had approved the three bidders who had said they could deliver the plant 12 months ahead of the original schedule. The plant is expected to be delivering water by December, 2010.

He said the successful tenderer would be decided in March 2009.

Mr Rann said the three short-listed companies were:

ADDWATER, a consortium of Veolia Water and John Holland.

WATER FIRST, a consortium of companies including Degremont, Thiess and Thiess Services.

ADELAIDE AQUA, a consortium including Acciona Agua, United Utilities, McConnell Dowell and Abigroup Contractors.

"Under this revised timeline, the plant will operate at a lower capacity initially with water delivery gradually increasing to 150 million litres a day by June 2011," Mr Rann said.

He said SA Water had shortlisted Baulderstone Hornibrook and Built Environs, McConnell Dowell (in association with ARUP) for the pipeline project.

Opposition water spokesman Mitch Williams said the Liberals had always said it would take only two years to build a desalination plant but the Government had rejected this claim.

[frank1]

Desalinisation plant ready a year early, at a cost
GREG KELTON, STATE EDITOR
Opposition water spokesman Mitch Williams said the Liberals had always said it would take only two years to build a desalination plant but the Government had rejected this claim.

Well no shit. You could get it done in less than a year if you wanted to.....Just pay 10billion and work 24hrs a day like in china.

[skyliner]

I am beginning to sniff a rat here.They had better not be easing out of this one.(The cynic in me here). It's either water or no water. If it costs, it costs.Deflecting and stalling the procedure is lost time while everything else marches on. SA is desperate for RELIABLE and CONSISTENT QUALITY water now. If this falls over, how attractive will Adelaide be then? It's our city at stake, not just another city/town that is expendable due to the 'drought' and because of the cost of governmental popularity and votes. End of rant.

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE