Delta is proposing to more than double the output of Mt Piper, from 1320 megawatts (MW) through the construction of two additional generating units with a maximum capacity of 2000 MW.

The State Government has now acted on the Delta proposal as the preferred option to move onto the next stage, putting an environmental assessment on exhibition.

And, as predicted back at the beginning of July, the power station could be operated by either coal or gas … or a combination of both.

The Government’s 2007 inquiry into electricity supply in NSW (the Owen Report) indicated a potential shortfall in generating capacity, necessitating the need for extra baseload power stations.

Also included in the project description (available on the Government’s Planning Department website), is the possibility of any new power station reverting to private ownership.

The Government’s Preliminary Environmental Assessment said the Government ‘has indicated its intention to include the Mt Piper Power Station Extension Project as one which could be offered for sale as part of the NSW Energy Reform Strategy’.

“Should this occur, then it is proposed that the project approval being sought would be transferred to the new project owner,” the assessment report says.

Lithgow Mayor Neville Castle said yesterday Council would be considering the assessment at its next Council meeting on October 5 as a matter of urgency, as submissions have to be made by the close of business on October 26.

:We welcome the announcement, as we have pushed for a number of years for the extension of Mt Piper.

“We want to be part of the process which will hopefully eventually lead to approval,” he said.

Unofficial estimates put the value of the project at between $3 and $4 billion.

The existing Mt Piper power station was commissioned in two stages between 1992 and 1993.