The Australian state of Queensland will get a new A$500 million (US$284.8 million) gas-fired power station by 2005. State government-owned corporation Enertrade was the preferred tenderer for the Townsville-based project, which included a major gas pipeline from central Queensland. The project will involve converting the existing open-cycle peaking plant at Yabulu, near Townsville, to a 220-megawatt base-load gas-fired power station. Coal seam methane gas will be developed by CH4 Pty Ltd, a Macquarie Bank subsidiary, at a field near the central Queensland mining town of Moranbah. A 391km pipeline will be built from the gas field to Townsville. Enertrade won the bid from a shortlist of three, which included AGL/Stanwell, who proposed to use Papua New Guinea-sourced gas, and Origin Energy.
