The Queensland government took possession of its troubled Tugun desalination plant yesterday. The move came as it was revealed the state’s problem-plagued water-security projects made losses of $330 million last year.
After 18 months of repairs and operating problems, Infrastructure Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said independent engineers verified the plant had met the government’s “stringent requirements”.
The plant was envisaged as the showpiece of the government’s 2007 strategy to drought-proof the state’s southeast with the $6.9billion interconnected Water Grid of desalination, recycled-water facilities and dams, but the government had refused to take control of the Gold Coast infrastructure until adequate repairs were completed.
There is a one-year warranty on the repairs.
With the region’s combined dam capacity at 98.5 per cent and more rain on the way, the expensive desalination plant’s operations have been cut back to one-third of its operating capacity - 44 megalitres a day.
Mr Hinchliffe said in a statement the plant was an essential part of “drought-proofing” the region. “This facility in an insurance policy against this region ever being in that situation again,” he said.
“Queenslanders know the possibility of drought is ever-present and the plant can produce enough water to meet the needs of more than 665,000 people under the current water conservation measures.”
In the past financial year, the Tugun plant made a loss of $16.96m, as outlined in annual reports. The region’s other controversial water infrastructure, the Western Corridor Recycled Water scheme, lost $35.54m.
Losses were also incurred by the SEQ Water Grid Manager, a statutory body that oversees water security, which was $285m in the red.
SEQ Water Grid spokesman Dan Spiller said at the current low operation of the Tugun plant, it was only 2.5 per cent of the operating costs of the Water Grid. “The plant also provides the flexibility to quickly match production to demand, should other grid assets become unavailable,” he said.
Mr Spiller said reported plans to double the size of the Gold Coast plant were a “reserve option” but another source of supply was unlikely to be needed until 2020.
The Tugun plant had construction problems and operational shutdowns since opening last year and the government refused to accept it from contractors John Holland and Veolia Water. It was meant to take control of the plant from January last year.
The Beattie government created the water grid when dams reached lows of 15 per cent in 2007.
