PRESS RELEASE: The Yamarna power station is being constructed to supply power to the Gruyere gold project. The Gruyere gold project is a 50/50 joint venture between Gold Road Resources and the global miner Gold Fields - together, the Gruyere JV. It is located in the Yamarna greenstone belt of Western Australia, 200km northeast of Laverton and to the north of APA Group’s Eastern Goldfields pipeline.

Clarke Energy will engineer, procure and construct (EPC) the gas-fired power station. Gas for power generation will be transported a total of almost 1,500km using four APA Group interconnected pipelines including its latest greenfield, 198km Yamarna Gas pipeline, currently also under construction.

Sam Pearce, group executive, networks and power at APA Group, said: “As an infrastructure owner, our priority is to provide safe, reliable and efficient energy to our customers. Together with Clarke Energy as the EPC and GE’s demonstrated Jenbacher gas engine technology providing the power, we will be able to, once again, deliver a compelling energy solution for our customer using both our interconnected pipeline and power generation capabilities to the remote gold mine.”

GE’s Jenbacher J624 is one of the world’s first two-stage, turbocharged gas engines. It provides a high level of engineering excellence and significant advantages, particularly in the areas of operation in hot environments - such as the Gruyere gold project location - and in multiple engine power plants for independent power production and combined heat and power applications. It offers customers high efficiency and improved flexibility and can power up to 10,000 Australian households. The Jenbacher J624 gas engine is based on GE’s proven Jenbacher Type 6 platform with over 4,300 units sold and delivers higher output and increased efficiency.

Greg Columbus, managing director at Clarke Energy, commented: “GE’s high-efficiency, high-performance and dependable gas engine technology is an excellent fit for APA Group’s needs of safety, reliability and efficiency and is well-proven with an installed gas engine fleet of over 700MW in Australia. We look forward to providing safe, on-time and on-cost project delivery for APA Group and supporting its needs at the Gruyere gold project well into the future.”

GE’s Jenbacher J624 gas engines will be built in the company’s Jenbach, Austria, facility and are expected to ship during late 2017. Commissioning of both the pipeline and power station is expected to be in late 2018 to align with the Gruyere JV’s expectation of first gold scheduled for early 2019.

Daniel Angelo Icasiano, sales director Asia-Pacific, at GE’s Distributed Power, said: “GE’s Jenbacher J624, high-speed gas engines provide numerous benefits for customers. In addition to high power density in hot ambient temperatures and best-in-class electrical efficiency of more than 45%, they also include the capability to operate successfully with large transient electrical loads associated with mining processing plants. We are again proud to be supplying our channel partner, Clarke Energy, for this project. GE’s gas engine technology provides a proven, cost-effective solution for powering the Gruyere mine site power station.”