Chapter 2 Extension of scope
2.1
On 9 June 2010 the Government announced that the CSIRO[1]
had been granted $47.3 million in funding through the Government’s Education
Investment Fund (EIF) for renewable energy solutions.[2]
This money will be spent on infrastructure at the Murchison Regional
Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) for the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP)
project at Boolardy Station, WA and the Pawsey High Performance Computing
Centre in Perth, WA.
2.2
On 21 June 2010 the CSIRO wrote to the Committee seeking approval to
proceed with these infrastructure works as an ‘extension of scope’ to already
approved projects rather than ‘new works’ and having to undertake a referral to
the Committee pursuant to the Public Works Committee Act 1969.
2.3
The Committee has previously undertaken inquiries into the Pawsey High
Performance Computing Centre (Pawsey Centre) and the Australian SKA Pathfinder
(ASKAP) project. These proposed extended works were raised with the Committee
during both of those inquiries.
2.4
In consideration of the request, the Committee received a written brief
and held a public hearing with the CSIRO on 24 June 2010.[3]
A list of witnesses appearing at the public hearing is at Appendix A and the
brief outlining the scope of works is at Appendix B.
2.5
The CSIRO also provided advice from the Australian Government
Solicitor’s office confirming that the works could be considered an extension
of scope, rather than ‘new works’. This advice is at Appendix C.
Works proposed for ASKAP
2.6
The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder Telescope (ASKAP) will
provide a survey radio telescope intended for international research in
cosmology, transient radio sources, pulsar astronomy and the structure and
magnetic field of the galaxy at a cost of $111 million.[4]
2.7
The Committee considered the ASKAP project in hearings held on
1 October 2008 and tabled its report recommending the House of Representatives
resolve that the works proceed on 1 December 2008.
2.8
Infrastructure to be delivered for the ASKAP project under this
proposal, at a cost of $27 million, is:
a high renewable penetration hybrid power generation system,
and will enable an energy efficient MRO control building to be constructed, as
well as sophisticated geoexchange cooling to be developed and deployed for
cooling ASKAP antenna electronics and the data processing system in the MRO
control building.[5]
2.9
In the original proposal presented to the Committee on the ASKAP
project, the CSIRO noted that it was seeking more renewable energy solutions to
reduce the cost and environmental impact of powering the ASKAP.[6]
In discussions at the hearing held on 1 October 2008, the CSIRO stated:
In the submission we have about 20 per cent as a solar
photovoltaic power system, and we are investigating mechanisms to provide more
of the power using other solar technologies. CSIRO is involved in energy
technologies as well, and we are working with the Division of Energy Technology
to further that.[7]
2.10
In its June 2010 written brief to the Committee the CSIRO states:
The funding provided by EIF enables the ASKAP project to
realise its stated goals in three important areas…
n The development of
remote power generation infrastructure that utilises renewable technologies to
reduce reliance on traditional energy sources by over 50%... together with an
underground power distribution network to minimise radio-frequency interference
to the sensitive ASKAP receiver systems …
n The development and
use of ground coupled cooling systems to cool the electronics in the ASKAP antennas
and the data processing facility in the MRO control building. The EIF
Sustainable Energy for SKA project provides funding for the project to deploy
passive geoexchange cooling technology on the MRO…
n The enhancement of
the energy efficiency of the MRO control building though building techniques
that reduce the power load whilst also preserving the radio-frequency
interference integrity of the building.[8]
2.11
Australian Government Solicitor advice obtained by the CSIRO states:
In our view, these activities can properly be regarded as
part of the proposed work that was the subject of the motion agreed to [by the
House of Representatives] on 3 December 2008. We say that, in particular,
because it appears from the material that the funding will be used, in effect,
to enhance or further develop aspects of the proposed work that was before the
PWC, rather than to introduce new components into the proposed work.[9]
2.12
The Committee finds that the works proposed by the CSIRO for the ASKAP
project as part of the EIF initiative to be an extension of scope to those
works put to it in October 2008 and approved by the House in December 2008.
Works proposed for the Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre
2.13
The Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre for SKA Science will
provide facilities for researchers in high-end computation and data-intensive
science to support the ASKAP project as well as other computing science at a
cost of $66 million.[10]
2.14
The Committee considered the Pawsey Centre project in hearings held on
16 April 2010 and tabled its report on 21 June 2010 recommending the House of
Representatives resolve that the works proceed. In its report, the Committee
noted the possible use of geothermal technology in conjunction with this
project.
2.15
Infrastructure to be delivered under this proposal, at a cost of $20
million, is:
A drilling program to access the hot sedimentary aquifer
under the Perth basin to power an absorption chiller to meet the significant
cooling requirements of the Pawsey Centre super computer and the
heating/cooling requirements of the adjacent Australian Resources Research
Centre (ARRC). The infrastructure will establish the Pawsey Centre as
Australia’s largest direct-heat geothermal demonstration site.[11]
2.16
In its original submission to the Committee on the Pawsey Centre
project, the CSIRO noted the cost of cooling the data centre and its desire to
utilise geothermal technology. At the Committee’s hearing on 16 April 2010 in
Perth, the CSIRO told the Committee:
CHAIR—I dare say you are going to use
a lot of energy to keep those data centres cool.
Dr Zelinsky—Just to add to that, we
do have another application in with the EIF for a geothermal cooling
application to actually reduce the energy footprint. We have a colleague here,
Steve Harvey, who spoke to you this morning, and he is available to give a bit
of background to that if the committee should require it.
CHAIR—That would be useful.
Dr Harvey—CSIRO has an active
interest in geothermal energy research and development. We have recently
established a centre here in Perth together with our colleagues at Curtin
University and the University of Western Australia. The particular focus of
that centre is looking at tapping into the hot sedimentary aquifers that in the
Perth Basin and tapping into the heat that is associated with those aquifers.
We have done quite a lot of work looking at the viability of using the hot
water with off-the-shelf chiller technology to cool the data centre as part of
this proposal. At the moment, as Dr Zelinsky said, we have got a proposal in
for funding support and a very large part of that is drilling wells into the
Perth Basin to access that hot water.
Dr Bryce—About half the cost of
running the facility after its commissioning is to cool the system—hence the
real enthusiasm for finding a means of doing that that is much less expensive
than using electricity from the grid.[12]
2.17
In its June 2010 written brief to the Committee, the CSIRO states the
this project will ‘access the heat resource within the hot sedimentary aquifers
within the Perth Basin to run off-the-shelf absorption chillers’ through a
drilling program comprising:
… three, 3km deep wells be drilled in the ARRC site:
n an exploration well
to provide critical data (water temperature, flow rates and water chemistry) to
inform the engineering design specifications for the production system; and
n a production
“doublet” – geothermal extraction and re-injection wells.[13]
2.18
While this project is new technology and its success can only be
determined once the exploration well is drilled, the CSIRO is confident on data
currently available to it that it will be successful. Use of this technology
rather than electricity off the grid is estimated to result in an annual saving
in the order of $2 million.[14]
2.19
Australian Government Solicitor advice obtained by the CSIRO states:
… it appears from the CSIRO’s submission to the PWC … from
evidence given to the PWC at its hearing on 16 April 2010 … and from the PWC’s
report itself … that the possible utilisation of geothermal energy for the
purposes of the Pawsey Centre building was part of the proposed work.
…
In summary, it appears to us that the EIF funded works would
increase the cost of the proposed work the subject of the motion of the House,
but would not change it into a different work.[15]
2.20
The Committee finds that the works proposed by the CSIRO for the Pawsey
Centre as part of the EIF initiative to be an extension of scope to those works
put to it in April 2010 and approved by the House in June 2010.
Committee findings
2.21
The Committee takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that all
proposed infrastructure works put to it are necessary, with an appropriate
scope and cost. This is a significant investment and it should not be undertaken
without proper scrutiny.
2.22
However, in reviewing the evidence put to it in October 2008 and
April 2010 as part of the Pawsey Centre and ASKAP project inquires alongside
the proposal put to it in June 2010 by the CSIRO and advice from the Australian
Government Solicitor’s office, the Committee is satisfied that these works are
an extension of scope, rather than ‘new works’.
2.23
Therefore, the Committee finds that works should proceed without the
need for a referral to it under the Public Works Committee Act 1969.
Senator the Hon Judith
Troeth
Deputy Chair
12 July 2010