Victorian desalination plant

Plans to build a desalination plant in Victoria, Australia, were announced by the Brack's Labor government^[1]

Information about the plant

Household water bills are expected to double over the next five years to pay for a $4.9 billion water strategy to secure Melbourne's water supplies
Estimated water production is 150 billion litres (150 gigalitres) of fresh water per year
The plant is planned to be operations by the end of 2011
It is intended that the plant will provide additional water to Melbourne, Geelong, Western Port and South Gippsland.
The plant is estimated to use about 90 mega watts (MW) of power per day. While a commitment was made to use renewable energy to power the plant in an attempt to make it greenhouse neutral, it is possible the plant will be powered by a co-located gas fired power station.
The plant is expected to emit 200 million tonnes of brine to the ocean.
The plant will be constructed using a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and could end up being foreign owned.
The capital cost of the plant would could equip about 600,000 households with tank systems and pumps (at $5000 per house) that could provide more water than the plant's estimated production. Combined with recycling sewerage water and protecting our catchments, we may not even need desalination.
The Brack's government opposed the construction of a desalination plant during the 2006 Victorian State election, but has since reversed its position.

The construction cost is estimated to be $3 billion
Operating costs (chardged by a private firm) over a 25 year period could reach $1.5 billion^[2]
Melbourne Water estimates the cost of production of desal water to be $3000 a megalitre