TransAlta seeks Nickel West gas plant approval

Canadian firm TransAlta is seeking environmental approvals for a 150-megawatt gas-fuelled power station to support processing at BHP Nickel West’s Mount Keith operations.

A submission to the Environmental Protection Authority outlines the plan, to deliver the infrastructure TransAlta says will support Nickel West’s plans to implement nickel processing and recovery projects at Mt Keith over the coming decade.

The proposed power infrastructure would be built on a brownfields site adjacent to Mount Keith, around 75 kilometres south-east of Wiluna and 80km north of Leinster in the Goldfields.

The application comes despite recent downturn in the price of nickel abroad, which has forced the closure of several nickel projects and prompted BHP to conduct a review of its Nickel West operations.

Despite being pitched as part of Nickel West’s broader decarbonisation plans, the project was referred to the EPA because it exceeds the regulator’s emissions threshold for assessment.

In its application, TransAlta said the use of gas as a fuel at Nickel West was better than the alternative.

“Whilst the addition of new, efficient reciprocating gas engines will result in the creation of new [greenhouse gas] emissions to meet BHP Nickel West’s existing and new loads, the quantity of emissions and overall emissions intensity will be lower than TransAlta’s alternative available option of operating its existing diesel plant,” the submission said.

TransAlta said the construction of a gas plant at Mount Keith would allow the miner to pursue renewable generation and add enough capacity to complement the use of renewables from its Northern Goldfeids solar project, which went live in November.

“The energy produced will power BHP Nickel West’s northern Goldfields operations and support its growth as the world’s leading nickel supplier to the battery metals markets, essential to a decarbonising world,” TransAlta said.

TransAlta hopes to begin construction on the gas plant on the first half of this year, with commissioning scheduled for the second half of 2025.

The plant would have a maximum project life of 25 years. A public consultation period is now open. 

The application comes weeks after Nickel West closed part of its Kambalda nickel concentrator following a decision by major customer Wyloo Metals to stop mining nearby.

The company flagged in its December quarterly that it was evaluating its options to mitigate the impacts of a sharp fall in nickel prices.