AGL to Develop A$295 Million Power Station in South Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia--AGL Energy Ltd. (AGL.AU) will invest 295 million Australian dollars (US$221.7 million) to develop a power station in South Australia state, which has struggled with blackouts in recent months.

Construction of a 210 megawatt reciprocating-engine power station, to be known as Barker Inlet, is expected to begin in the third quarter, AGL said. The power station will replace two of the four Torrens A turbines at the company's 50-year-old Torrens Island power station near Adelaide, which AGL said it will progressively mothball from mid-2019.

The Barker Inlet station will comprise 12 reciprocating engines capable of generating about 18 megawatts of output each that will be capable of operating at full capacity within five minutes of start, providing a rapid response to changes in the state's renewable generation supply, AGL said.

South Australia has been hit with power-supply issues, including a statewide blackout in September after a storm knocked out the transmission system.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 06, 2017 18:58 ET (22:58 GMT)