Braemar 2 Ultrapure Water System, QLD

Arrow jointly developed the 450MW Braemar 2 Power Station with ERM Power in 2009, acquiring 100 per cent ownership in July 2011. 

It consists of three 150MW open-cycle gas turbines and a 110km dedicated high pressure gas pipeline through which Arrow and third parties can feed gas.

Located about 40km south west of Dalby in south east Queensland, Braemar 2 currently provides three to four per cent of Queensland's electricity.

It is fired by coal seam gas (CSG) from the Daandine and Tipton West gas fields in the Surat Basin at a rate of approximately 15 petajoules per annum (PJ/a), enough to power more than 200,000 households each year.

The power station operates as a peak and shoulder period generator.

The Braemar 2 Power Station was built in response to Queensland’s growing population and the increase in the number of air conditioners used in the region. Braemar 2 was the 2nd phase of an integrated 900 MW (total), open-cycle, gas-fired power station project located in the Darling Downs, SW QLD.

The power station provides 3% of combined electricity requirements for QLD & NSW, and is capable of operating as a peak, shoulder or base-load power station. Braemar 2 produces 30% less greenhouse gases than a coal-fired plant, and use less water as the gas-fired units are air cooled.

ERM Power, owner of the project at the time, wanted to alleviate the water restrictions by using coal seam water to produce demineralised water for turbine power augmentation, evaporative coolers for gas turbines and blade washing as well as potable water for human consumption.

Therefore, the power station has access water throughout the year, including during the dry seasons.