Infrastructure

The Scaddan lignite deposit is close to a major infrastructure corridor that services the Kalgoorlie Esperance region. With rail, road and a gas pipeline all connected to the deep water port of Esperance with the capacity for Cape and Panamax class vessels gives the project a unique advantage over other CTL proposals in Australia.

Rail

The majority of the South West is covered by a narrow gauge rail network that links to a standard gauge connecting Perth – Kalgoorlie to the eastern states. The narrow gauge also covers the north south line from Leonora to Esperance. Diagram 6 below displays the rail network of the Southwest (Australian Railroad Group 2009).
Products currently being transported by rail to Esperance are iron ore, grain and till recently lead and nickel. In the future it is envisaged additional products such as rare earths, zinc and copper will also be transported to the port. Of the total petroleum products imported through the port 75% are railed to the goldfields (Australian Railroad Group 2009).

Natural Gas

A natural gas pipeline links Kambalda and Esperance with an average installed capacity of 6 TJ/day. This pipeline is part of a network of gas pipelines in Western Australia supplied by large offshore gas reserves in the Pilbara region of WA.

The North West Shelf Venture is currently the largest producer of domestic gas in WA. The Venture is a consortium of five companies with equal participation; Woodside is the operator with other partners BHP Billiton (North West Shelf), BP Developments Australia, Chevron Australia, Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) and Shell Development (Australia) (Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA 2009).
 

Port

The Esperance Port is administered and run by the Esperance Port Authority which is an agency of the Government of Western Australia. After an upgrade in 2002 the Esperance port became the deepest port in southern Australia, capable of handling Cape Class vessels up to 180,000 tonnes and fully loaded Panamax vessels up to 75,000 tonnes (Esperance Port Authority 2009).

Main exports from the port are grain, iron ore and other minerals. According to the 2007-08 Esperance Port Authority Annual Report total port exports were more than 9 million tonnes plus over 700,000 tonnes of imports consisting mainly of fertilisers and petroleum products. The Port is sheltered from the south by a 1,200 metre breakwater. The channel and turning basin for Berths 1 and 2 cover 27ha and is dredged to 14.5 meters. No. 3 Berth and channel is dredged to 19.0 meters (Figure 7) (Esperance Port Authority 2009).