Stanwell Power Station celebrates 30 years of operations

A sea of hi-vis gathered to mark Stanwell’s big anniversary with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing a huge battery storage system will be installed soon.

Stanwell Power Station CEO Michael O'Rourke and former station manager Ted Scott.

Employees at the Stanwell Power Station gathered on Wednesday to mark 30 years of operations at the site west of Rockhampton.

In attendance was Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who presented a speech at the lunch, announcing work would begin later this year on a new 150mw/ 300mwh battery storage system.

The Tesla mega-pack system in the Central Renewable Energy Zone will be up and running by 2025 and will create 80 full-time jobs during construction and six full-time operational and maintenance jobs over the 20-year battery life.

The systems are large-scale rechargeable lithium-ion energy storage structures intended for use at power stations, and are used to store energy generated by intermittent renewable power sources, such as solar and wind.

This stored energy can then be used by the electricity grid as required, such as peak summer periods.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaking at the Stanwell Power Station 30 year celebrations.

“Stanwell’s batteries will be located within renewable energy zones, supporting new build renewables to come online while also ensuring system security and reliability at key points of Queensland’s electricity network,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke noted local contractors would be used in the project.

“The battery systems will be connected directly into the transmission network and will charge/discharge directly from/into the grid,” he said.

“The batteries will be charged during periods of high renewable energy generation and discharged during periods of peak demand or to maintain grid stability.”

STANWELL POWER STATION HISTORY

Historic photos of Stanwell Power Station over the years.

Known by workers as “the plant”, the sod was first turned at the site in 1980 and the first unit was commissioned in 1993, and unit four in 1996.

“Stanwell Power Station has continued to provide a reliable source of energy, to not only Queenslanders, but to all Australians,” Mr O’Rourke said.

Speaking to the sea of mostly hi-vis, Mr O’Rourke commented on the many challenges the energy industry has faced over the decades, from the increase in coal and gas prices due to the Ukraine, Covid supply chain impacts, outages at other plants, several weather events and Australian Energy Market Operator suspending the market.

Morning Bulletin file photo from 1998: Robert Schwarten, Member for Rockhampton and Tony McGrady (Opposition Energy Spokesman) ALP Leader Peter Beattie and Jim Pearce (Member for Fitzroy) at Stanwell Power Station.

“During that time Stanwell Power Station was able to operate at a high availability to secure supply for the National Energy Market and help drive down electricity prices,” Mr O’Rourke.

The plant has also snagged some Guinness World Record honours over the years.

In 2002, unit four broke the record of continuous operation with 1073 days and in 2015, unit one achieved a world record for 1087.9 days of continuous operation.

Stanwell Power Station in 2012. Photo Allan Reinikka / The Morning Bulletin

Mr O’Rourke finished his speech by thanking the employees for their “remarkable resilience” from significant weather events, torrential rains and flooding time and time again, the cyclones and made special mention of in 2013 when staff were airlifted from the site by helicopters from Tropical Cyclone Oswald.

“You’ve risen to the challenges and remained focussed on ensuring households and businesses continue to keep the lights on in spite of them,” he said.

“You’ve not been afraid to make the tough decisions and take the right actions.

“You stepped up and made the necessary changes to keep your colleagues safe and made sure they get home after a good day’s work.

“We know there will be more challenges ahead, but I strongly believe there will equally be more opportunities for the next 30 years as we evolve with our rapidly changing industry.”

File photo of Stanwell Power Station in 1998.

WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE

There was a display of memorabilia at the front of the marquee, of photos and newspaper clippings of the years.

Among the crowd was the original manager of the plant, Ted Scott, who held the role from 1990 to 1997.

Commenting on the early years, Mr Scott said he was drawn to the people and culture.

“We started off with some very good people… we were doing something different to other power stations, they (the workers) really stuck their necks out to do something different,” he said.

“We were one of the first users in Australia to use green energy… I’ve always foreseen that it was going to have a big impact.”

Kerry Wells is a former Stanwell Power Station employee.

Kerry Wells was enjoying catching up with her former colleagues, having retired at Christmas last year.

Ms Wells had been at Stanwell for 22 years, working as a training coordinator for the last 19 years.

“Ted Scott was transitioning out, it was small, it was a very close knit group of workers, over the years it‘s grown and we had the merge with Tarong,” she reminisced.

“There’s still a lot the same but there‘s been a lot of improvement… for the better.

“It was a good place to work, I made a lot of friends.”