Announced by the State Government in August, the new gas-fired power station will replace the current 35-year-old facility by March 2007. Construction is expected to begin in March 2006.

The contract covers the construction, operation and ownership of the new facility.

The station is expected to feed off the existing Carnarvon lateral gas pipeline, a branch offshoot from the Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline, which currently transports gas to the existing power station at Iles Road.

Energy minister Eric Ripper said the power station was one of 27 new power stations planned, commissioned or built over the past four years.

“The new power station will be built in an industrial area, away from residential development,” he said.

The reaffirmation of Western Power’s commitment to the Carnarvon Power Station project comes as steel shortages delay the construction of new power stations in the Kimberley region by at least eight months, with the first of five stations now expected to come on-line in late-2006.

In an update of the $600 million West Kimberly Power Project, Western Power said contractor Energy Developments had asked for an extension after experiencing steel supply and approval hindrances. It was awarded the project in July.

A Western Power spokesperson said the project remained on budget, and no further delays were expected.