Key components that will make up wind turbines for Liontown Resources’ Kathleen Valley lithium project have arrived on site.
The turbines will generate 30MW of wind power for the site’s 95-megawatt (MW) hybrid power station that’s currently being developed by Zenith Energy.
Zenith was awarded the contract for Kathleen Valley’s power supply by Liontown in September 2022. The contract said that Zenith will finance, design, construct, own, operate and maintain the 95MW station for an initial 15-year term from first commercial operation.
The hybrid power station is expected to have the largest off-grid renewable capacity of any mining project in Australia.
The key components for the station arrived at the Port of Geraldton by boat, which were then transported to Kathleen Valley by road trains. More deliveries are expected to arrive at the site in the upcoming weeks.
Liontown said works to assemble the first five turbines will begin soon, with each turbine to be over 210m tall and its blades to be 81m long.
“With 46MW of emissions-free power generation capacity, the 95MW hybrid power station is expected to have the largest off-grid wind-solar-battery storage renewable capacity for a mining project in Australia,” the company said.
“The power station’s design enables it to operate from 100 per cent renewable energy during periods of high wind and solar resource by switching to ‘engine off’ mode for its thermal components.
“We are on track to operate with a low-carbon footprint from the outset at Kathleen Valley.”
Last week, Liontown announced that underground mining at Kathleen Valley had begun.
The Kathleen Valley project is located about 60km north of Leinster and 680km north-east of Perth, Western Australia. Its first production is scheduled for mid-2024.
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