Snowy Hydro has been forced to apologise to residents in New South Wales’ Hunter region after testing at its new Kurri Kurri on-demand gas power station saw complaints from locals about a pungent smell of fuel in the air.
The turbines at the plant are designed to run on gas, with backup generation provided by diesel fuel.
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Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes told ABC Newcastle Breakfast that the testing had “caused some emissions and some odour, which we’re deeply regretful for”.
“We weren’t expecting it, and therefore we’ve stopped [testing].”
According to ABC News, locals reported seeing plumes of smoke coming from the plant, while others more than 30km away in Newcastle reported the smell.
Kurri Kurri Power Station is expected to reach full commercial operation in coming months after experiencing several periods of heavy rain over the past year.
Designed to run only for a minority of the time, when electricity demand is high and renewable generation is limited, Kurri Kurri Power Station will have capacity to provide a significant 660MW of power to the grid.
”Every megawatt of capacity provided by Kurri Kurri enables three megawatts of renewable wind and solar to come online and replace increasingly unreliable coal generation,” Barnes said.
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“This represents real change in our energy system that will deliver important benefits to energy users across the grid, while making a difference in Australia’s response to climate change.”
Kurri Kurri Power Station remains on track to be delivered within its target cost of around $1.3 billion.
