Callide Power Station

Callide Power Station is an electricity generator at Mount Murchison, Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. It is coal powered with eight steam turbines with a combined generation capacity of 1,720 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Callide A was commissioned in 1965, refurbished in 1998 and decommissioned in 2015/16.[2] As of 2018, generation capacity was 1510 MW.[2]

Callide Power Station
Control room, Callide Power Station, circa 1967
CountryAustralia
Location1092 Biloela Callide Road, Mount Murchison, Shire of Banana, Queensland
Coordinates24.3450°S 150.6196°E / -24.3450; 150.6196 (Callide Power Station)
StatusOffline November 2022
Commission date1965
Construction cost$28.7 million
Owner(s)CS Energy (50%), Intergen (50%)[1]
Operator(s)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Turbine technologySteam turbines
Cooling sourceFresh
Power generation
Units operational8
Nameplate capacity1,720 MW

The coal for Callide comes from the nearby Callide Coalfields and water from the Awoonga dam and Stag Creek Pipeline.[3]

An explosion and fire at the Callide C power plant in late May 2021 caused a significant power outage that affected over 375,000 premises and raised electricity prices for weeks afterwards.

November 2022 all four units at the coal-fired Callide Power Station were not operating after a structural failure at the cooling plant brought the C3 unit offline, and later on the B2 unit tripped during scheduled testing, followed by the last unit, B1, also tripping.[4][5]

Callide A
Premier Frank Nicklin opening Callide Power Station, 21 August 1965

At the end of 1962 approval was granted for a new power station near Biloela.[6] Work commenced at the site in February 1963. The design of the plant based around separate generating units and a control room was a first for Queensland.[6] It was also the first power station in Queensland to use dry cooling towers.[6]

Callide Oxyfuel Project, 2012

It had four 30 MW steam turbines, the first of which was operating by June 1965. From its commissioning a drought meant water restrictions at the station reduced output.[6] The second set was expected to be operating by May 1966, but was lost at sea while being transported from England.[6] A replacement unit arrived in June 1967. The third set was operating in October 1967 and the fourth in May 1969.[6] The total cost of the project was A$28.7 million.[6]

Callide A has been in storage since 2001, except for Unit 4 which was being used for the Callide Oxyfuel project.[7] The Callide Oxyfuel project was decommissioned in 2015/16 after demonstrating carbon capture technology for two years.[2]

Callide B

Following on from an aggressive construction program at Tarong Power Station, Callide B was commissioned in 1988 with two 350 MW steam turbines. The Hitachi machines are almost identical to those in Tarong and Stanwell.

In October 2019, Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor announced that Callide B's originally planned 2038-39 closure was being brought forward to 2028.[8]

Callide C

The Callide Power Plant (a.k.a. Callide C) was commissioned in 2001 with two 405 MW advanced cycle steam turbines.[9] Callide C uses a more efficient "supercritical" boiler technology to burn coal to generate electricity.[10] It was built to operate to 2050.[11]

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 5.73 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal.[12] The Australian Government introduced a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in 2011 to help combat climate change, intended to reduce emissions from power stations. The scheme was replaced in 2014 by a 'direct action' program. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but, as at 23 November 2008, not CO2.[13]

On 25 May 2021, an explosion and subsequent fire at Callide C caused a significant power outage (including Callide B and parts of Stanwell and Gladstone power stations)[14] that affected over 375,000 premises,[15][16][17] and caused increased power prices for weeks.[18] The hydrogen-filled generator had a catastrophic failure, resulting in significant damage. Despite speculation that the plant would close, it will be repaired at an estimated cost of $200M and hoped to be completed by December 2022.[19][20][11] As at November 2022, the expectation completion is oct 2023.[21][22]

See also

References
  1. "Callide Power Station". Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  2. "Callide Power Station". Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  3. InterGen Archived 2008-08-05 at the Wayback Machine page on Callide. Retrieved 2008-05-18
  4. Hines, Jasmine; Culliver, Paul (4 November 2022). "Callide Power Station in central Queensland completely offline". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  5. Loftus, Tobi; Culliver, Paul (1 November 2022). "'Structural failure' at Callide Power Station near Biloela leaves unit offline". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  6. Dunn, Col (1985). The History of Electricity in Queensland. Bundaberg: Col Dunn. pp. 136–139. ISBN 0-9589229-0-X.
  7. Spero, Chris; Yamada, Toshihiko; Nelson, Peter; Morrison, Tony; Bourhy-Weber, Claire. "Callide Oxyfuel Project – Combustion and Environmental Performance" (PDF). www.eventspro.net. 3rd Oxyfuel Combustion Conference. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  8. "Qld to close coal-fired power station a decade early". Australian Financial Review. 6 October 2019. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  9. InterGen & CS Energy Open US$800 MLN Australian Power Project. AsiaPulse News. 05-JUL-2001 Retrieved 2008-05-18
  10. Australia joins the supercritical ranks: although a country with a coal-based power industry, Australia has taken up supercritical technologies surprisingly late. However, once started there seems to be no stopping. Here we look at a series of new supercritical developments that have been commissioned in the coal country of Queensland. Modern Power Systems 01-APR-2005 Retrieved 2008-05-18
  11. Carabott, Mike (2 June 2021). "Callide C power station to be repaired for $200 million". Leading Edge Energy. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  12. Callide C Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Carbon Monitoring for Action. Retrieved on 23 November 2008
  13. "National Pollutant Inventory". www.npi.gov.au. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  14. Parkinson, Giles (3 June 2021). "Queensland coal generators tripped off like dominoes after Callide explosion". RenewEconomy. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021.
  15. "Queensland power outage leaves hundreds of thousands in dark". 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  16. CS Energy [@CSEnergyQld] (25 May 2021). "CS Energy has immediately acted following an incident at Callide Power Station near Biloela in Central Queensland today" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. "Archived copy". Facebook. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. Leitch, David (7 June 2021). "Price explosion: Gas producers clean up as sun goes down in post Callide world". RenewEconomy. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021.
  19. "Queenslanders asked to reduce energy use as state recovers from widespread outage, as it happened". ABC News. 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  20. "Our lights are back on, but what does the Callide station explosion mean for our future energy supply?". ABC News. 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  21. Manning, Brittney (10 November 2022). "Urgent repairs at Callide Power Station spark worker safety concerns". Central Queensland Today. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  22. Energy, C. S. "Update on Callide C4 recovery and investigation". www.csenergy.com.au.
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