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Billion-dollar Aust'n desalination plant may be switched on for first time

Xinhua, March 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

A multi-billion dollar desalination plant in the Australian state of Victoria could be switched on for the first time after water catchment levels in the state have fallen in a dry summer.

Victoria's desalination plant has sat idle since construction of the 4.35-billion U.S. dollar government project finished in 2012.

But the controversial plant - which contractually costs taxpayers 1.3 million U.S. dollars each day, despite never having produced a drop of fresh water - may be called into action, as the summer months take their toll.

"If we get advice that says we need to place an order, then I won't have any hesitation," Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews told Melbourne radio on Tuesday.

Melbourne's water-storage dams have collectively dropped 130 billion liters, which is 2.5 percent above the seasonal average over the three-month period.

Overall, the city's dams - which serve two-thirds of the state's total population - are sitting at 64 percent capacity, which is 7.5 percent lower than in November 2015.

According to Water Minister Lisa Neville, the Victorian government plans to make an announcement regarding the desalination plant in the "coming weeks".

"The government has always said that the desalination plant is our insurance policy for drought (and we) will consider the advice of the water corporations," Neville told reporters on Tuesday.

The potential move comes as water storages are forecast to further dwindle in Autumn, with the Australia's Bureau of Meteorology tipping below-average inflows across all four of Melbourne's catchment reserves.

Last year, Victoria's statewide average rainfall was 23 percent below the long-term mean.

Over the past three years, a team of 52 maintenance workers and engineers have monitored the upkeep of the controversial facility 24 hours a day, ensuring it remains in working order when, and if, needed.

The Victorian government committed to paying the operators of the plant 16.11 billion U.S. dollars by the end of their 27-year contract in 2039. Endit