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 that was developed by SunSHIFT.

At a glance

  • Project name:

    Cannington

  • Owner, operator:

    EDL owns and operates all power assets except the solar farm, which is owned by SunSHIFT

  • Start of operation:

    1997

  • Location:

    Mckinlay, Queensland, Australia

  • Generating capacity:
    40 MW
  • Primary fuel:

    Hybrid

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 SunSHIFT to develop a 3MW solar farm at the off-grid mine. SunSHIFT maintains ownership of the solar farm, with EDL operating that and all other power generation assets that supply the mine.

EDL is also assessing the technical and economic viability of using batteries as virtual spinning reserve to reduce fuel and fired hour costs.