UK power player wins $10m Kalium contract

Kalium Lakes has awarded Clarke Energy a contract for a 7.5-megawatt power station, as the remote power station provider re-emerges in the Western Australian market.

UK-based Clarke will design, supply, install and commission the gas-fired power station for Kalium’s Beyondie sulphate of potash project, which is located 160 kilometres south-east of Newman.

The power station will include three 2.5MW gas reciprocating engines, a black start generator, high- and low-voltage switch rooms, auxiliary equipment and the power station controls system.

A Kalium Lakes’ owned and operated gas lateral with a production capacity of 90 kilotonnes per annum will supply gas for power generation.

In addition, Clarke Energy will provide several smaller, diesel generators for the project, which will provide power to the village and the remote brine transfer pump stations.

The exact contract value has still not been finalised, but Kalium expects it will be around $10 million.

Kalium Lakes chief development officer Rudolph van Niekerk said its relationship with Clarke was very positive.

“Not only has Clarke Energy worked with us to find a technically viable solution for our project, it has gone the extra mile to also achieve the work health and safety accreditation, which is a requirement for this contract under Kalium’s funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility,” he said.

In July 2017, Clarke secured the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a 45MW gas-fired power station at the Gruyere gold project.

However, since then the global power station provider has had a minor, if not non-existent, footprint in the WA market.

The remote power provider market in WA in recent years has been dominated by EDL, Pacific Energy and Zenith Energy.