The Melbourne-based company today said the station, located 80km north of Roma, would be the first 50MW of a nominal 100MW coal seam gas-fired power station to be co-located at the site.

Managing director Grant King said the decision to tender comes after more than two years of project development and consultation.

If the power station reached its nominal 1000MW capacity it would represent Origin’s single largest investment in Queensland, bringing the company’s total investment in the state to more than $1.8 billion since it listed in 2000.

“We believe the project has the potential to result in significant benefit for the local region, Queensland and the national electricity market,” King said.

“Once development approval is obtained and Origin decides to proceed, construction would take a further two-and-a-half years – in time to meet the currently forecast demand for extra electricity generation capacity,” the company said.

King said a short list of tenderers has been prepared and discussions are already underway.

A board decision on whether to proceed to construction or otherwise is expected at the end of the 2007 March quarter.