Owen Springs Power Station

A brand new power station is under construction outside Alice Springs to meet the town's future forecast electricity demand.

The $126m Owen Springs Power Station has been built at Brewer Estate and connected to the town by twin 66,000 volt transmission powerlines.

From a greenfield site in 2008, fuel pipelines and other support infrastructure have been installed.

The first generating unit, a 4MW Taurus, was delivered to the site, 25km south of Alice Springs, in 2009.

Three European-built 10.9MW engines, which will be primarily fuelled by natural gas, were delivered in 2010. They have been installed and are currently undergoing an extensive test and commissioning process.

Owen Springs Power Station is expected to deliver electricity to Owen Springs mid-2011. It will be one of the highest-efficiency power stations for its size in the country.

The new power station will allow the gradual retirement of units from Ron Goodin Power Station, in Alice Springs, over the next 10 years.

Owen Springs switching yard and Lovegrove Zone Substation

To support the new power station, a 66kV transmission system has been built:

• a new 11/66kV switching yard at Owen Springs—containing initially two and ultimately four transformers to step power up to 66,000 volts for transmission
• two 66kV overhead transmission lines, 16km long
• two 66kV underground transmission cables, 9km long and
• an upgraded zone substation at Lovegrove which will step power down from 66kV to 22kV and 11kV for distribution into the Alice Springs power grid.

Three Northern Territory companies have been awarded contracts for various parts of this project:

• Sitzler Bros built the switching yard and substation
• BMD installed the underground cables and
• MG Electrical erected the overhead transmission lines.

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