CONSTRUCTION of the $20million Mount Cotton Biomass power station has been delayed after developer Cleveland Power decided to re-design the controversial plant.
Cleveland Power development manager David Bray said construction would start in August and delays were due to improvements in technology forcing his company to redesign the plant.
A spokesman for Mr Bray rejected claims the project had hit a financial glitch and said the first of the major components, huge boilers, had been delivered to a property off-site.
He said the boilers would be stored at the site while undergoing electrical compliance checks before being moved to the plant site on Hillview Road.
However, he was unable to give details about the whereabouts or construction progress of a rotating kiln being pre-fabricated in India.
“The details are still Commercial in Confidence however what we can say is that the technology relates to further reductions in total emissions,” the spokesman said.
“It is envisaged the technology will capture the carbon dioxide and other gasses in the waste stream and through mechanical and chemical conversion turn them into a valuable product.”
In August last year, Mr Bray said the plant, fuelled by chicken manure, would be generating power by the end of this year.
He also said plant testing would be finalised by December and power to the grid in 2015.
In January, that timeframe was pushed back when Mr Bray said construction would begin within the first half of this year as the kilns were not built.
But time is running out for the power plant’s construction with the Planning and Environment Court approving an extension of a 2007 development permit until March 20, 2015.
The court relied on the joint agreed opinion of the state Environment Department and experts in town planning, air quality and noise.
A public announcement about the new technology would be made by the end of August.
Cleveland Power said the Mount Cotton project would generate power to run 7500 homes annually.