Supporting Infrastructure

We have two major infrastructure plants at Sino Iron, a 51 gigalitre desalination plant and a 480 megawatt capacity power station. Both our power and water plants are large enough to easily supply a major regional town.

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Desalination Plant

Our desalination plant uses reverse osmosis technology to pump filtered seawater under high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane to produce desalinated water. Its output capacity is 140 megalitres of water per day, which is the equivalent of 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools. That’s also the same size as the Kwinana desalination plant, which provides much of the drinking water for WA’s capital city, Perth.

By using energy recovery units, our desalination plant is able to use the reject water stream to generate energy that pressurises 50% of the incoming seawater feed. This significantly reduces the amount of energy required for the process.

Power Station

The Sino Iron power station is the first combined-cycle, gas-fired power station in the Pilbara and it’s one of the largest of its kind in Western Australia. Seven gas turbines, three steam turbines and six heat recovery generators produce energy for the project.

Gas is provided via the Dampier to Bunbury National Gas Pipeline (DBNGP). CPM’s power station is a past winner of the Best Industrial Energy Efficiency Project at the Energy Efficiency Council Awards.

 

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Facts and Figures - Power Station

  • Combined-cycle, gas-fired power station with 480 megawatt design capacity.
  • Three sets of combined-cycle units and one open-cycle unit:
    • Seven gas turbines with 44 megawatts each.
    • Three steam turbines with 58 megawatts each.
    • Two heat recovery steam generators to supply heat energy for each steam turbine.
  • A combined cycle plant generates 40% less emissions than an open-cycle plant.
  • Multiple heat recovery mechanisms built into the design.

Facts and Figures - Desalination Plant

  • Each of the two trains of the plant can produce up to 70 megalitres of water per day. Total capacity for the entire plant is 140 megalitres per day, or 51 gigalitres per year.
  • The product tank capacity is 12 megalitres, or the equivalent of five Olympic-size swimming pools.

Careers

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Project Milestones

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