(EnergyAsia, July 6 2011, Wednesday) — Australia’s Arrow Energy said it has begun operating the 450MW Braemar 2 power station in Queensland state, following its acquisition last week of the remaining 25% stake to underline its commitment to provide gas to the domestic market.

Commissioned in 2009, the A$550 million Braemar 2 plant is fuelled by coal seam gas (CSG) from Arrow’’s Daandine and Tipton West gas fields in the Surat Basin. It is the second biggest gas fired power station in Queensland. The plant provides three to four per cent of Queensland’s electricity.

Arrow has been producing gas for the domestic market for almost a decade and now provides approximately 20% of Queensland’s gas supply, which is largely used for generating electricity.

“While Arrow has been expanding CSG exploration to deliver a major CSG to liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to meet international demand for cleaner energy, this acquisition shows that providing cleaner energy to Queensland at the same time is of critical importance to the company,” said Arrow Energy CEO Andrew Faulkner.

“Braemar 2 continued to successfully operate through the extreme flooding events in the Surat Basin earlier this year, which ensured on-going electricity generation to the state,” said Mr Faulkner.

ERM Power, which led the development of Braemar 2, was the project and construction manager, and managed and operated the plant until last week when it sold its remaining equity interest to Arrow.