The CHPP plant will support the company’s Boggabri mine expansion, which is slated to increase production to about 7 million tonnes per annum and keep the mine in operation until 2053.
The open-cut coal mine is 17km northeast of Boggabri in New South Wales’s Gunnedah Basin.
Sedgman CEO and managing director Nick Jukes said the contract award is a positive indication for the coal sector in Australia.
“Sedgman is pleased to be awarded the Boggabri contract through the TSJV. We hope to see further project opportunities emerge as confidence returns to the resources sector,” Juckes said in a statement Monday.
Juckes added that both Sedgman and Thiess look forward to completing the project on schedule and within budget.
Thiess managing director Bruce Munro also gave a hopeful nod to a market resurgence, saying the expansion was a big vote of confidence in the future of the coal sector by Boggabri and Idemitsu.
“This contract recognises the specialised capability of TSJV and is a tribute to the great relationship established between Thiess Sedgman and Boggabri Coal,” Munro said.
Detailed design and procurement work is underway, with the plant scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2015.
Thiess said the contract had a direct value to its parent Leighton Holdings Limited of $124 million.