Rio Tinto’s Amrun project.
BY CAMERON DRUMMOND
RIO TINTO has awarded a $100 million contract to power provider Aggreko Australia Pacific to build and operate a 20MW power station at its $2.6 billion Amrun bauxite project near Weipa in North QLD.
The station is to be a high efficiency modular diesel power system that includes engine efficiency upgrades and a heat-recovery system, to be deployed over the 15 year term of the contract which comes with a five year extension option.
Rio Tinto Amrun general manager Marcia Hanrahan said the contract to build the power station signified another important milestone for delivery of the Amrun project.
“The power delivery expertise and operational capabilities that the Aggreko team will bring will be critical to the success of our operations,” Ms Hanrahan said.
A team of more than 20 Aggreko employees including engineers, project managers and technicians will come together to deliver the installation by December 2017, with the station flagged to go live by April 2018.
Production and shipping from Amrun was expected to commence in the first half of 2019, ramping up to full production by the end of the year.
