VICTORIAN Governor David de Krester and his wife Jan yesterday got to see how "overgrown jet engines" will help Victorians avoid "brown-outs" during times of peak demand for electricity.
The vice-royal couple was given a tour of the construction under way on the $640 million Mortlake power station due to be completed by next summer.
The 550-megawatt gas-fired station is the first major step in plans to turn Moyne Shire into an energy hub with two more power stations, up to 15 wind farms, a geo thermal and wave energy projects proposed.
About 450 workers - close to the peak of the project's workforce - are currently working on the power station on Connewarre Lane, about 12 kilometres west of Mortlake, straining rental accommodation in the region to the limit.
Origin Energy's project manager for the station, Paul Henshall, said the project had so far lost about 66 days to bad weather since work started a year ago but was still expected to be completed by next summer.
The site was bustling with workers yesterday and much of the huge infrastructure for the station was in place, including the two huge turbines that were transported in convoys from Melbourne, drawing thousands of spectators along the route.
Huge gantries that will carry the power cabling from the station to the nearby Moorabool-to-Heywood 500-kilovolt high voltage power line, a big exhaust stack near the turbines and 300-tonne cranes now dominate the site's skyline.
The Mortlake station will be a peaking station that will come on line quickly during times of high demand such as mornings and evenings and during heatwaves.
Origin's power development projects general manager Robert Neumann said the natural gas-fired station could start supplying power to the grid within 30 minutes of starting up, much quicker than the coal-fired stations upon which Victoria mostly relies.
Origin hopes to receive gas from a pipeline from Port Campbell to the Mortlake station and fire the turbines in July.
Moyne Shire chief executive officer Brett Stonestreet said a community engagement program involving Origin Energy, the station's building contractors Bilfinger Berger and community representatives was working well and keeping the community informed about the project's ramifications.
Monthly meetings, regular newsletters and information stalls had enabled "the community to be taken along with the project," Mr Stonestreet said.
Moyne Shire Mayor James Purcell told Dr and Mrs de Krester the council hoped to implement the community engagement program with the other major power projects proposed in the shire.
"If you can get the parties together, you can solve the issues," Cr Purcell said.
The visit by Dr and Mrs de Krester to the power station was part of their familiarisation tour of the shire that also took them to the Abbeyfield aged care centre in Mortlake and to Port Fairy.
Among the places on their itinerary were the Port Fairy Consolidated School, the Port Fairy Men's Shed and the town's new marine rescue boat.
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