Iron Road Ltd has sold options for 89.55ha of land at Cape Hardy to Northern Water for in the order of $3.92 million for its proposed desalination plant.
The company made the announcement about the land within Iron Road’s Cape Hardy industrial port complex to the Australian Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
In addition to the land for the desalination plant, the options also include 5ha pipeline easement, 9ha transmission line easement and a construction laydown area lease.
Iron Road chief executive officer Larry Ingle said the Northern Water project was “an ambitious and significant initiative for South Australia”.
“We believe that the location of a large-scale desalination plant within the company’s Cape Hardy Industrial Port Precinct presents a holistic and environmentally sound solution to water needs across the entire Eyre Peninsula, Upper Spencer Gulf and northern regions of South Australia,” Mr Ingle said.
“The desalination plant will provide logistical cost-efficient benefits for the CEIP (Central Eyre Iron Project) and the water necessary for Amp Energy’s green hydrogen strategy and Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels Precinct.
“We look forward to working with Northern Water and its partners to make this a reality.”
Northern Water is a state government initiative and an integral component of the State Prosperity Project, to ensure strong economic benefits and positive environmental outcomes for Eyre Peninsula, Upper Spencer Gulf and Far North.
BHP, Origin Energy, Amp Energy and Fortescue are among private sector companies contributing to the expected pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) costs in the order of $200-230m for the planned 260ML/day desalination plant and 600km pipeline.
Land sale and easements arrangements have been executed through Option Deeds, with monthly option fee instalments now payable, netted off the land acquisition value at the exercising of the option, expected during the final quarter of this year.
An investigations licence of $40,000 is also payable now, with an option for lease of a temporary 31ha construction laydown area and dwelling (about $133,400 per annum) to be exercised from FID for a minimum three years.
The land deal preserves Iron Road’s control of the planned common user infrastructure footprint at the Cape Hardy Industrial Port Precinct, including multi-commodity port infrastructure and facilities.
In addition, the Northern Water project will provide a more cost-efficient logistics solution for Iron Road’s Central Eyre Iron Project.
Provision of industrial scale water is a fundamental and core requirement for Amp Energy’s planned Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels Precinct.
Infrastructure SA chief executive Jeremy Conway said the option to buy land was a “significant milestone” in the development of Northern Water to allow further necessary studies as it moved closer to the anticipated final investment decision.
“We look forward to the ongoing collaboration with Iron Road, alongside other key landholders, traditional owners, and others whose input, contribution and consent will be critical in order for the project to be successful,” he said.
Northern Water lodged planning and environmental documentation in December 2023, with Planning Minister Nick Champion asking for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be prepared for the project.
A funding agreement for that was announced in February – between both the state government and the private sector – with an expected cost of $200-230m.
