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Power station damage ‘major’ but ‘diverse network’ saved state
The price of energy surged to a staggering high of $15,000 a megawatt in Queensland after the “catastrophic failure” at Callide Power Station, which will leave one of the station's four generators offline indefinitely.
The price of energy surged to a staggering high of $15,000 per megawatt in Queensland after the “catastrophic failure” at Callide Power Station, but Queenslanders won’t suffer bill shock.
Data from the Australian Electricity Market Operator (AEMO) revealed the spot price, or how much generators could make by supplying energy into the grid, spiked to $15,000 per megawatt hour on Tuesday afternoon.
This is the highest price the AEMO will allow it go, meaning generators that kicked in to gear to supply the system when they were called upon would have made a motza as demand surged to about 6000 MW.
But Queenslanders won’t be hit with the cost in their next bill, as retailers smooth out the price spikes over the financial year.
It comes as the Queensland Government reveals power has been restored to all homes and businesses affected by the incident.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the Australian Energy Market Operator was confident there would be sufficient supply to meet demand going forward.
“While we originally prepared for load shedding to occur across the state, I’m pleased to report this was not required last night,” he said.
“The network is now stabilised, meaning Queenslanders can be confident in reliable supply.
“I thank them for their patience and understanding during this unprecedented event.”
One of the four generators at Callide Power Station has suffered ‘major’ damage in Tuesday’s explosion and fire and will be offline indefinitely, its operators have revealed.
CS Energy boss Andrew Bills says critical staff were allowed back into the power plant overnight to inspect damage.
“Based on an initial inspection overnight, Unit C4 has experienced major damage and failure of the turbine,” he said.
“It will take some time to fully understand the cause of the failure and the steps that will need to take to repair the unit.
“The unit that has been damaged is jointly owned by CS Energy and Intergen and we will be working closely with our joint venture partner as part of this process.
“It is too early to confidently provide a date for when the unit will be operational again. But as soon as we know, we will share this information.
“We are assessing the damage to the other three units. This will be our priority today so that we can work out a plan to bring those units back safely.
“We are in constant contact with AEMO the market operator and Powerlink the transmission network operator as to the status of our plant.
“A full investigation with appropriate experts and authorities will be undertaken to understand what has occurred and led to what appears to be a major incident.
“As we gain greater access to the site and develop a plan to return the units to operation we will provide further updates.”
It comes as Queensland’s diverse power network has enabled the state to bounce back from Tuesday’s ‘unprecedented’ energy blackout, Mr de Brenni said.
Mr de Brenni told breakfast television the state’s power grid “is stable” after a turbine fire at central Queensland’s Callide power station.
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“We have a diverse and publicly-owned generation network,” he said.
“It’s everything from nearly 700,00 households with rooftop solar, solar farms, wind farms, pumped hydroelectricity and a fleet of coal-fired generators.
“They’re all operating at full steam this morning.”
Mr de Brenni revealed the Callide Power Station, one of Australia’s youngest, was up to date with its servicing and maintenance.
“It does underscore that electricity generation is a dangerous task,” he said.
“It also underscores the importance of our diversified network.
“Everything from solar to thermal generation to our pumped hydroelectricity all worked together as a network yesterday to ensure our grid was stable.”
FOLLOW QUESTION TIME IN OUR LIVE BLOG BELOW FROM 10.15AM
Updates
Question Time has finished..
Critical shortage of workers in tourism hotspot
Noosa's Independent MP Sandy Bolton has questioned when the government's $7.5m Working in Paradise package to lure workers to Queensland would be extended to include her electorate, which has suffered "a critical shortage or tourism and hospitality workers".
Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said more than 10,500 people had registered their details to be a part of the program.
He said Noosa "does not have the same travel barriers in northern and western Queensland in attracting workers.
He said the trail program would continually assess the "areas of greatest need".
"There is more that we need to do," he said.
– Hayden Johnson
Will Callide investigation findings be made public?
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni wouldn't say whether the findings of an investigation into the fire at Callide Power Station would be made public.
It followed a question from Opposition frontbencher Deb Frecklington who asked who was conducting the investigation, when it would be completed and whether the Minister would publish the findings.
Mr de Brenni said Queenslanders could have confidence in how the situation was being managed.
"The lights are on," he said.
The Minister said the Australian Energy Market Operator was responsible for identifying and implementing actions.
He said the turbine at Callide had been "catastrophically damaged".
– Domanii Cameron
Too early to know what caused fire at power station
Callide MP Colin Boyce has questioned whether the Callide Power Station failed because it was being operated in a way it wasn't designed for.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni did not reveal the cause of the incident, saying it would be subject to investigations.
"It is too early to tell what the cause of this unprecedented incident was," he said.
Mr de Brenni also added that Mr Boyce "might think things like renewables are a fantasy".
– Hayden Johnson
"The lights went out, mate"
The Opposition has questioned whether the $410m in cash dividends paid to the government from CS Energy led to an underinvestment in maintenance at its Callide Power Station.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni slammed Opposition Energy spokesman Pat Weir's question as a "random set of words".
"We can guarantee all of the maintenance work that is required to be done on all of our power stations has been done," he said.
"There is a statutory obligation to do that."
Mr de Brenni said there had been a record investment in the electricity network.
"The lights went out, mate," Opposition MP Lachlan Millar yelled.
– Hayden Johnson
Health questioning continues
Opposition Health spokeswoman Ros Bates has asked the government to promise that the state's ambulance ramping crisis won't get worse following plans to "squeeze $500m" from the health budget in the next financial year.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles argued the question was hypothetical, given the budget had not been delivered, however, the Speaker ruled the question in order.
"There will be an increase in the health budget," Ms D'Ath said.
– Hayden Johnson
Jobs up for grabs
Queenslanders have been invited to apply for call-centre jobs in a new police recruitment drive.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said 50 jobs were up for grabs in a boost to safety.
"I can announce for the first time today that the Queensland Police Service is launching a
recruitment campaign for PoliceLink call takers," he told parliament.
"This government made a commitment to deliver 50 additional call takers to boost the QPS capability and today they formally invite Queenslanders to seize the opportunity to serve their community."
– Jessica Marszalek
'Squeezing' the health budget
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath has been asked when she was first advised Queensland Health was looking at "squeezing" the health budget for hospital and health services and whether she would rule out putting more pressure on local hospitals amid ambulance ramping issues.
She replied by saying, "$21.8b budget for 2020-21."
She said the 2021-22 Budget hadn't been released yet.
– Domanii Cameron
Question Time begins
Question Time has kicked off with the Opposition asking more questions about the state's health system.
Leader David Crisafulli asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk whether the government would squeeze $500m out of next year's health budget.
It follows The Courier-Mail's story today.
Ms Palaszczuk didn't answer the question directly, instead saying she could guarantee a record health budget that would be announced during next month's State Budget.
– Domanii Cameron
Power outage update
Mick de Brenni has revealed there are "no forecast shortages" of power across Queensland, praising the work of authorities to keep the lights on.
"Last night, the Australian Energy Market Operator advised Queensland may not have enough supply to match demand during the peak evening period," he said.
"In response, Queensland generators, including our publicly owned Wivenhoe Pumper Storage and Swanbank E, came online and provided more supply to the network.
"We asked Queenslanders to conserve their energy use during the evening, and once again, Queenslanders pulled together… and Queenslanders came through."
– Hayden Johnson
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