A new desalination plant endorsed by the Queensland Government could be located on the Sunshine Coast.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament on Tuesday the plant will be delivered by 2035, after cabinet endorsed a 30-year water security plan.
She said Kawana had been earmarked as a possible location for the new facility while Water Minister Glenn Butcher told reporters early estimates put the cost at between $4 billion and $8 billion.
He said Queensland’s grid must be prepared for booming population growth combined with climate challenges, and the Sunshine Coast was a logical choice for the new plant.
“It’s a 30-year plan that considers population growth, projected rainfall and climate change to determine what new water infrastructure is needed and when we will need it,” he told parliament.
“Part of the detailed business case that they will put forward from Seqwater (Queensland’s bulk water supply authority) will identify how big it needs to be at that particular time, how much water will they be using out of it, and certainly the location as well.”
Mr Butcher said modelling showed the proposed new desalination plant wasn’t required until the mid-2030s but the government was keen to begin planning early.
Sunshine Coast News reported in 2022 that a plant could be assembled at Meridan Plains in Kawana, a scenario that was in March not ruled out by Mr Butcher.
A site that Seqwater purchased for $2,255,000 in 2019 is about 5km west of Wurtulla beach. The land acquisition followed a statement in 2018 that Seqwater was considering desalination because the region would need a new source of bulk water during the next two decades.
The population of the Sunshine Coast is expected to increase by about 200,000 people over the next 20 years, including burgeoning estates such as Aura, Harmony and the proposed Beerwah East.
The Premier said a study would be undertaken before costings and an eventual location were considered.
“A detailed business case for the new desalination plant will be completed for budget consideration in 2025,” she said.
“The precise location of the desalination plant is yet to be determined and will be reliant on the business case.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the water security plan was completed with Seqwater and focuses specifically on desalination to bolster the state’s water supply in the face of climate change and natural disasters.
The government has also committed to constructing a new water treatment plant by 2033 and connecting Wyaralong Dam in the Scenic Rim region to the main Seqwater grid.
Ms Palaszczuk said connecting Wyaralong to the grid was the first step before expanding the Tugun desalination plant on the Gold Coast.
“Our priority next year in our budget will be these two key measures,” she said.
