Tarong Power Station

Tarong Power Station
Tarong Power Station in 2021
Location of the Tarong Power Station in Queensland, Australia
CountryAustralia
LocationTarong, Queensland
Coordinates26°46′52″S 151°54′54″E / 26.78111°S 151.91500°E / -26.78111; 151.91500
StatusOperational
Construction began1979
Commission date1 Unit: May 1984
2 Unit: May 1985
3 Unit: February 1986
4 Unit: November 1986
Construction costA$1.23 billion
OwnerStanwell Corporation
Thermal power station
Primary fuelBituminous coal
Power generation
Units operational4 × 350 MW
Make and modelHitachi
Nameplate capacity1,400 MW
External links
Websitehttps://www.stanwell.com/energy-assets/
CommonsRelated media on Commons

The Tarong Power Station is a coal fired power station located on a 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) site in Tarong in the South Burnett Region near the town of Nanango, in Queensland, Australia. The Queensland-government-owned utility Stanwell Corporation operates the plant. The station has a maximum generating capacity of 1,400 megawatts, generated from four turbines. Coal is supplied via a conveyor from Meandu Mine, which is 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) away and is also owned by Stanwell. Water is supplied from Boondooma Dam.[1]

Construction and design

The location near Nanango was the preference of the premier of the day, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, out of a total of three possible locations that were considered.[2] It was decided to build a new power station at Tarong in 1978, with work beginning in the following year.[3]

Stanwell decided in 2021 to install a 150 MW grid battery at Tarong.[4] Scheduled for 2023, the battery will add approximately two hours of storage to the facility.[5] However, the battery was doubled to 300 MW and 600 MWh, connected in 2025[6][7] and operating in February 2026.[8]

Emissions

The power station was the site for a pilot project which had been expected to reduce emissions by 1000 tonnes per year by collected carbon dioxide from flue gases.[9] The project was developed by CSIRO and launched in 2010.[9]

A second trial to capture greenhouse gas emissions was conducted by MBD Energy. The technology being trialled collected carbon dioxide and pumped it into waste water where it synthesised oil-rich algae into edible seaweed products or oils.[10] Research measured performance of certain bacteria types.[11][12]

Demand reduction

In October 2012, Stanwell announced plans to shut down two generating units for two years.[13] The electricity market was oversupplied and wholesale electricity prices were relatively low.[14] The scaling down of operations resulted in the loss of employment for some workers.

Return to service

Because of higher natural gas prices, in 2014 power generators again turned to coal-fired plants.[15] However, in January 2014, Stanwell disclosed that maintenance inspections had revealed cracks in the rotors of the steam turbines in Units 1, 3 and 4.[16] The cracks in the still-operational Units 1 and 3 caused the company to replace their rotors.[16] At the time, the company was considering whether to pursue a repair or replacement for Unit 4's 50-tonne (110000 lb) turbine rotor.[15][16]

In July 2014, one of two units shut down in 2012 returned to service. The recommissioning task involved a weld repair, and was a first for a turbine of that type, taking 20,000 hours to complete.[15] The second turbine was expected to return to operation by mid-2015.[14][15]

As coal is scheduled for reduction, LNP MP Peter Dutton said he intends, if elected, to build one of seven government-owned nuclear power plants on this site, to be operational by 2035–2037.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Boyne River and Tarong". Sunwater. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  2. ^ van Vonderen, Jessica (1 January 2009). "Power plays revealed with 1978 Cabinet minutes release". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  3. ^ Dunn, Col (1985). The History of Electricity in Queensland. Bundaberg: Col Dunn. pp. 169–170. ISBN 0-9589229-0-X.
  4. ^ Mazengarb, Michael (27 May 2021). "Tarong coal generator to add 150MW big battery in Queensland "battery blitz"". RenewEconomy. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Stanwell advances battery storage plans". Stanwell Corporation. 27 May 2021. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Heavy lifting complete, as final 38 tonne Tesla Megapack installed at battery project next to coal plant". RenewEconomy. 22 May 2024. Archived from the original on 22 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Another big battery joins the grid". 5 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Australia switches on 600 MWh BESS co-located with coal-fired power plant". Energy Storage. 16 February 2026.
  9. ^ a b Sophie Benjamin (3 December 2010). "Tarong Energy and CSIRO launch carbon capture plant". ABC Southern Queensland. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  10. ^ Tracy Lee (1 August 2011). "Carbon-capture support spurs MBD's $100m IPO". The Australian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  11. ^ Zhang, Xing (2015). "Microalgae removal of CO 2 from flue gas". doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.26617.77929. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ von Alvensleben, Nicolas; Magnusson, Marie; Heimann, Kirsten (April 2016). "Salinity tolerance of four freshwater microalgal species and the effects of salinity and nutrient limitation on biochemical profiles". Journal of Applied Phycology. 28 (2): 861–876. Bibcode:2016JAPco..28..861V. doi:10.1007/s10811-015-0666-6. S2CID 17645537.
  13. ^ "Jobs go as Tarong power station winds back". Brisbane Times. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  14. ^ a b Jordan Philp (5 February 2014). "Tarong brings units out of cold storage". The South Burnett Times. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  15. ^ a b c d Tlozek, Eric (3 July 2014), Electricity providers return to coal-fired power as natural gas export revenue soars, ABC News website, archived from the original on 7 August 2014, retrieved 30 July 2014
  16. ^ a b c "Cracks Found In Tarong Turbines", South Burnett Online, 28 January 2014, archived from the original on 18 April 2026, retrieved 18 April 2026
  17. ^ Crowley, Tom; Norman, Jane (19 June 2024). "Peter Dutton reveals seven sites for proposed nuclear power plants". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.