The Coolimba power project will be developed by Western Australian energy group Aviva Corporation with its joint development partner, global power company AES.

The project, located to the west and south west of Eneabba, consists of a 400-450 megawatt coal fired power station, a 360mw gas fired power station and includes plans to phase in up to 2.9 million tonnes per annum of carbon capture and sequestration as a separate project when feasible.

Coolimba requires the development of an infrastructure corridor that will include a 20km long gas pipeline lateral and an about 20km long 330kV electricity transmission line.

Fuel for the project will be sourced from the adjacent Central West coal deposit and either the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas or Parmelia gas pipelines.

The project is based on the mining of the 75 million tonne sub-bituminous Central West coal deposit, about 12km long and ranging from 0.27 to 2km wide.

In a first for Australia, the project will be constructed to be carbon capture and storage (CCS) ready to store the plant's carbon dioxide.

The Coolimba Power Station will provide about eight per cent of the installed capacity in the SWIS network and have an operating life of 30 years.

Construction is planned to start in 2010 and will extend over three years for completion in 2013/14.

The Public Environmental Review document is available at www.coolimbapower.com.au/environm ent/per.html or from the Eneabba and Carnamah public libraries.

The PER describes the proposals, examines the likely environmental effects and the proposed environmental management procedures.

The public comment period is open until Tuesday, June 23.

For more information contact Aviva chief executive officer Lindsay Reed on 9367 2344.