| Port Stanvac Desalination Plant | |
|---|---|
| Desalination plant | |
| Location | Lonsdale, South Australia |
| Estimated output | 135 megalitres per day (2010) |
| Extended output | 270 megalitres per day (2012) |
| Cost | A$1.83 billion |
| Energy generation offset | Renewable (TBA) |
| Technology | Reverse Osmosis |
| Percent of water supply | 50% of Adelaide |
| Operation date | April 2011 (expansion completed by 2012) |
The Port Stanvac Desalination plant, also known as the Adelaide Desalination Plant, is a SWRO (sea water reverse osmosis) desalination plant currently under construction at Lonsdale, South Australia which will provide the city of Adelaide with a significant amount of drinking water. The $1.83 billion value is for three separate contracts undertaken by three different contractors:
The plant is located on the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent just north of ExxonMobil's disused Port Stanvac Oil Refinery. It lies within the suburb of Lonsdale - an industrial section of the City of Onkaparinga. The residential area just north of the plant lies within the suburb of Hallett Cove (part of the City of Marion).
In June 2009 the South Australian Government announced that the plant's annual output was to be doubled from 50Gl (gigalitres) to 100Gl, approximately 270Ml (megalitres) per day,[1] providing up to 50% of Adelaide's domestic water supply.[2]
The plant will source its electricity from renewable energy sources provided by AGL Energy under a 20-year contract at an annual cost initially estimated at $75 million per year;[3] however, by December 2010 this estimate had increased to $130 million per year.[4]
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South Australia, as the "driest state in the driest (inhabited) continent",[5] has experienced severe water shortages during periods of drought. As drought conditions worsened during 2006-7, reduced inflows into the River Murray lead to the introduction of progressively harsher water restrictions and the future of Adelaide's water supply came to the fore as a political issue.[6]
Although there had been some prior consideration at state government level for a desalination plant to supply metropolitan Adelaide, in the leadup to the November 2007 federal election campaign Prime Minister John Howard promised that, if re-elected, his Coalition government would contribute towards the capital cost of a desalination plant to reduce the city's dependence on the River Murray. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd made similar pledges.[7]
Initially the desalination plant was to have a capacity of 50Gl per year (supplying up to 25% of Adelaide's needs) with an expected cost of $1.1 billion and to be completed by 2012, although later the project was fast-tracked and the completion date brought forward to December 2011.[8][9][10]
Work on a small pilot desalination plant at Port Stanvac, costing $10 million and with a capacity of 100,000 litres per day, commenced in January 2008, [9] and was completed on 4 August 2008. [11]
The site for the main desalination plant was acquired by the state government from ExxonMobil in December 2008. [12] Construction commenced in March 2009.
In June 2009 the South Australian Government announced that the plant's annual output was to be doubled to 100Gl, bringing the total cost of the project to $1.824 billion, with "first water" being produced by the end of December 2010 and final capacity being reached by the end of 2012.[2] This increase in capacity was assisted with a grant of $228 million from the federal government, with the aim of reducing Adelaide's dependence on water drawn from the River Murray. [13]
Construction delays pushed the date back to April 2011, then to July 2011,[14] with "first water" finally being produced on 31 July 2011.[15]
In mid 2010, a worker was killed after a steel beam fell from a crane on the site.[16] There have also been several serious and minor injuries. In September 2010, ABC's Stateline South Australia reported on workplace safety at the desalination plant construction site and explored questions of construction pressures as the construction is behind schedule. Incentive payments are being offered to AdelaideAqua and it has been suggested by many public bodies and media, including the ABC, that this is placing pressure on them to meet their targets at the expense of safety to the 1,300 workers, in the form of extra shifts and extended hours.[17][18]
There is concern that plans to supply the plant with 100% renewable energy may not go ahead as many residents adjacent to the proposed site are opposing the 200 turbine wind farm.[19]
The lack of tidal movement for up to 2-3 days during dodge tides, which occur twice a month in Gulf St Vincent, reduces mixing of the water column. This has raised concerns about the potential effects of brines discharged from the desalination plant on benthic flora and fauna.[20][21]