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Protecting the Environment
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- Protecting the environment
Renewable energy
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Sydney Water will run the desalination plant using 100 per cent renewable energy. Power will be generated at a large new wind farm at Bungendore in NSW.
A new wind farm will be built in NSW to supply power for the desalination plant. Sydney Water has chosen Babcock & Brown Wind Partners and Babcock & Brown Power as its preferred tenderer for the supply of renewable energy.
Negotiations are proceeding with contracts expected to be signed by end May/early June 2008.
Babcock & Brown will build and operate a new 63 turbine wind farm at Bungendore in NSW. NSW currently has 17 megawatts of installed accredited wind power. This wind farm, known as the Capital Wind Farm, will have a capacity of 132 megawatts.
The Capital Wind Farm will increase the supply of wind power in NSW by more than 700 per cent. It will have more than enough wind power to meet the desalination plant's energy requirements. The wind farm will be built by June 2009 before the energy is needed for the desalination plant in the summer of 2009-10.
The power needs of the desalination plant will be met for the next 20 years through this contract.
Sydney Water is committed to protecting the marine and terrestrial environment.
Conservation area
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Sydney Water will preserve 15 hectares of the 45 hectare desalination plant site at Kurnell as a special conservation area. This area will remain protected, and no construction work will take place there. Vegetation in this area includes four endangered ecological communities. Sydney Water will protect and improve the condition of this vegetation. Ongoing monitoring will measure any changes, to help manage the area in the future.
A community of Grey-Headed Flying Foxes is seasonally resident in the conservation area. Sydney Water will minimise any impact on them. An independent expert has been engaged to study the Flying Foxes, provide management strategies and perform ongoing monitoring to ensure Sydney Water meets this commitment.
Under the Conditions of Approval for the desalination plant, Sydney Water is required to develop a Conservation Area Management Plan. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife section of the Department of Environment and Climate Change. The plan addresses management of the area during all phases of the project, from pre-construction through to operation, and provides direction on monitoring and protecting the environment.
Marine and estuarine monitoring program
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Under the Conditions of Approval for the seawater intakes and outlets, Sydney Water is required to implement a Marine and Estuarine Monitoring Program.
The program aims to provide marine and estuarine information for the design, construction and operation of the desalination plant including intakes and outlets. The program also monitors the impacts of these activities on the marine and estuarine environment.
The program includes monitoring during the design phase, pre and post commissioning, construction and ongoing monitoring during operation. The construction phase monitoring outlines the environmental requirements during construction of the project, including the pipeline crossing of Botany Bay.
Design of the program has been undertaken in consultation with representatives from the Department of Planning, the Department of Primary Industries and the Department of Environment and Conservation. The program has been endorsed by independent experts.
