Cannington

EDL has successfully provided the Cannington Mine with power since 1997, with an outstanding track record of reliable power generation exceeding 99.7% availability. In 2018, EDL commissioned a 3MW solar farm at the off-grid mine.

At a glance

  • Project name:

    Cannington

  • Owner, operator:

    EDL

  • Start of operation:

    1997

  • Location:

    Mckinlay, Queensland, Australia

  • Generating capacity:
    43 MW
  • Primary fuel:

    Hybrid

  • Generating capacity (gas):

    35MW

  • Generating capacity (diesel):

    6MW

  • Generating capacity (solar):

    3MW

  • Diesel consumption avoided:

    2.3 million litres

About the Cannington Power Station

Initially commissioned as a diesel power station for the off-grid Cannington mine in 1997, EDL worked in partnership with South32 to upgrade the facility to a primarily gas-fired power station in 1999 following the completion of the Cannington Lateral gas pipeline.

As part of the upgrade, EDL successfully integrated the new gas-fired power station with the diesel-fired station, while at the same time decommissioning several diesel generators to optimise the installed capacity of the facility.

The expansion included a new high voltage switch room, and the integration was successfully completed during a planned shutdown and maintenance period.

In 2018, EDL commissioned a 3MW solar farm at the off-grid mine. We are also assessing the technical and economic viability of the use of batteries as virtual spinning reserve to reduce fuel and fired hour costs.