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Mining magnate buys into Bega
Local expertise: Genertech owner Rob Mizzi is helping upgrade the 95-year-old heritage listed Westinghouse hydro electric motor.
photograph michelle slater
By MICHELLE SLATER
A PIECE of Victorian hydro-electric history has come to the Latrobe Valley with a 95-year-old heritage listed generator in town for a spruce up in a Morwell workshop The Westinghouse hydro generator was built in 1927 as part of the Lower Rubicon Power Station, which was commissioned in 1928. Lower Rubicon comprises of a single 2.8 megawatt Westinghouse horizontal generator and a Boving Francis Turbine. The generator has been taken to local company Genertech for a clean and overhaul to bring it into modern standards. Lower Rubicon is one of four stations that make up the Rubicon or Mountain Streams Scheme. The scheme was the first mainland hydro-electricity scheme in Australia. The scheme is protected under Heritage Victoria as very little has
changed, meaning operator AGL needs written permission to make any changes, particularly to its external or visible features. AGL head of hydro Simon Kelley said they were working closely with Heritage Victoria to preserve as much character of the scheme as possible. “Preserving assets that are close to 100 years old is a challenge but our engineers and maintenance teams are doing an excellent job, bringing years of experience and skills to this unique project,” Mr Kelly said. Mr Kelly said the generator could be replaced if necessary, after advising Heritage Victoria. He said the heritage body had been supportive in the past if any changes were required to keep the scheme operating. The generator work is part of a larger high and medium voltage upgrade costing about $4 million, the largest program since it the scheme was first constructed.
Built to last: The Westinghouse hydro-electric generator in-situ at the Lower Rubicon Power Station. photograph supplied
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A slice of history
WESTERN Australian ore mining giant Andrew Forrest bought a $108 million chunk of dairy processor Bega Cheese late last month. An ASX announcement stated that Mr Forrest had purchased more than 20 million shares into the cheesemaker under his company Tattarang AgriFood Investments. It means Mr Forrest has 6.61 per cent voting power into the company, which has a factory on Princes Drive in Morwell. The purchase further diversifies the billionaire’s portfolio after he bought fine boot manufacturer RM Williams last year, on top of other interests in agri-foods, marine and pastoral. It comes after Bega reported before Christmas it was focussing on managing the “cumulative effect of the direct and indirect costs associated with COVID-19”. It stated these impacts had been “extensive and significant” ranging from market disruptions from lockdowns, factory shutdowns, increased safety and testing and major supply chain cost increases. Other changes included key markets in China affecting infant and toddler dairy products sales. “Despite positive seasonal conditions, farm milk supply across the Australian dairy industry remains flat to declining with strong competition for supply continuing,” Bega said in a company notice. “The company expects upward pressure on farm gate milk prices to remain for the balance of the year reflecting high global dairy commodity prices, limited supply availability and the resultant competitive circumstances.” But it also stated Bega was comfortable with the “overall operations of the business”. This included confidence in brand quality, planned investments growth and efficiency investments and the company’s ability to respond to market opportunities in Australia and internationally. It said the short-term impacts of COVID and a highly competitive milk procurement environment are expected impact to this financial year’s earnings. The company expects normalised earnings before interest, tax and depreciation to be between $195 million to $215 million.
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The Latrobe Valley Express, Wednesday, 5 January, 2022 — Page 7
