Following the power failure at Callide, which left thousands of Queenslanders without electricity, a maintenance program will be carried out at the Wivenhoe hydro station

During the power outage in May, Wivenhoe’s hydro station was ramped up to stabilize the network.

Major maintenance work will start this month at the state-owned Wivenhoe Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Station

Planned maintenance at south east Queensland’s largest hydro power station is set to commence just months following the major power failure at Callide Power Station outage.

The Wivenhoe Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Station will undergo works starting this month to increase the reliability of Queensland’s electricity network.

When an explosion inside Callide C Power station onMay 25 cut power to 470,000 homes from central to south east Queensland, the Wivenhoe hydro power station was ramped up, generating 530 megawatts during a four-hour period to stabilize the network.

Minister for energy, renewables and hydrogen Mick de Brenni said it was important to invest in fast ramping, flexible energy generation and storage solutions.

“All our publicly-owned energy generators have worked around the clock to respond to constraints in the network in these last few weeks,” he said.

The $14m project falls under the state government’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan and is estimated to create 100 jobs during the maintenance work.

Maintenance work will include repair and refurbishing one of the 285-megawatt turbines, corrosion protection painting of machinery and pipes and repairs to the transformer.

Mr de Brenni labelled Wivenhoe a “jewel in the crown of Queensland’s publicly-owned energy storage fleet”, saying it was critical the system was maintained.

CleanCo, a government owned electricity generation and trading company, own the Wivenhoe asset, and have done so since 2019.

CleanCo CEO Maia Schewizer said maintenance was important to ensure the continued supply of reliable, affordable energy across Queensland.

“The recent incident at Callide Power Station highlighted the important role fast ramping and flexible generation assets like Wivenhoe Power Station play in supplying energy reliably for Queensland.

“The planned overhaul will support up to 100 jobs as a diversely skilled workforce is required to undertake these works which will involve working at heights and in confined spaces.

“Where possible, CleanCo is engaging local businesses to support the delivery of this important work.”

Maintenance works will run from mid-July through until late October 2021.