A generator that could cost more than $185,000 will be purchased and installed at the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre by October 2019, as a preparedness measure in the city’s disaster recovery plan.
The Pinjarra Road complex would be the city’s main evacuation centre in the time of an emergency.
In September 2017, the facility was selected as the primary “welfare centre” by local government set-up group, Mandurah Local Emergency Management Committee.
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At their official meeting on September 25, city councillors voted unanimously in favour of recommendations set out by officers to purchase the generator and agreed to fund its ongoing running and maintenance costs.
The generator will have the capacity to service a peak load of between 650-700 kilo-volt-ampere (kVA)s, which could keep the centre fully operational.
Estimated price tag
Initial costs factored into the purchase include about $129,000 for the generator itself and about $57,700 for its set-up.
A further bill of about $13,000 per year was estimated for its ongoing costs.
The fund for the purchase will be paid for from the City of Mandurah’s 2019/20 budget.
Fuel costs associated with generator use are approximately 0.25 litres per kilowatt hour.
Pricing is based on a per litre diesel cost of $1.07. The generator would need to run at 15 minutes per month and between two and four hours during load shedding activities, which is likely to be four and 12 times per year.
Based on historic power usage the likely total fuel cost per year is estimated as $783.75.
Generator could protect revenue loss
In a report presented to councillors at their September 11 meeting, City of Mandurah officers also argued that the generator would be a significant advantage to MARC in the event of a power failure.
“If power is lost to the MARC pools for an extended period there would be a need for the pool water to be checked by the WA Health Department before the pools could be reopened to the public,” the report stated.
“Advice indicated this could take seven to 14 days. During this period the public would not be able to use the aquatic facilities.”
The report estimated total revenue at the centre across 14 days to be equal to about $200,000, with an estimated 50 per cent of that revenue from the aquatic facility component.
“This provides some indication of the potential revenue impact that an extended closure due to power failure may have,” the report stated.
The consideration form part of a broader strategy for the city’s emergency management in the case of a disaster.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlynrintoul.
