Fire causes huge power outage in Queensland spanning from Gold Coast to Caboolture
A fire and possible explosion at a power station has caused a massive outage in Queensland, with some customers warned they will continue into the evening.
A fire and possible explosion caused a massive power outage that affected up to 375,000 Energex customers in Queensland, with some warned to expect them to continue this evening.
The incident happened about 1.45pm at the Callide Power Station near Biloela, in central Queensland.
“A fire occurred in one of the turbine halls at the power station,” CS Energy said.
“As a result, the three units that were generating at the time went offline.
“We immediately evacuated the power station and called emergency services to attend site.”
CS Energy is investigating the incident and state Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said he was thankful no one was injured.
“We’re working hard to resolve these unprecedented issues as quickly as we can,” he said.
It may be necessary to implement load shedding to protect the statewide supply of electricity. This involves turning off power supply to groups of customers to avoid the entire electricity network becoming unstable.
— Powerlink Queensland (@powerlinkqld) May 25, 2021
“AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) have advised this should be resolved by 9:30pm.
“The best way to ensure this is done as quickly as possible is to conserve energy use.”
Queenslanders are urged to turn off appliances, heaters and reverse-cycle airconditioning if they can.
“Commercial and industrial users can also contribute to the effort by reducing energy use where it’s safe to do so,” Mr de Brenni said.
“Importantly, this may affect traffic lights so it is important people stay off roads unless absolutely necessary. If you are on the roads, be careful.”
Essential services such as hospitals, transport networks, ports, airports and other key infrastructure will stay online, the minister says.
Power outages were widespread from the Gold Coast to Caboolture, but has now been restored for 250,000 properties.
CS Energy has immediately acted following an incident at Callide Power Station near Biloela in Central Queensland today. At approximately 1.45pm today, a fire occurred in one of the turbine halls at the power station.
— CS Energy (@CSEnergyQld) May 25, 2021
Shortly after the incident, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said multiple crews were at the scene.
“An evacuation of the power station has been completed and a 550m exclusion zone has been set up while firefighting operations take place,” QFES said.
“Power to the station has been isolated. This incident is expected to be a prolonged event.
“Residents and community members are asked to avoid the area.”
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor told parliament the AEMO was investigating the emergency, with such events taken very seriously.
“Of course our thoughts at this time, first and foremost are with the safety and the livelihoods of workers both at the Callide Power Station – 260 workers at the Callide Power Station — and the many customers who rely on that power for their livelihoods.”
â ï¸â ï¸â ï¸ A widespread outage from the Gold Coast to Caboolture is affecting 375k Energex customers. Cause & duration unknown. When we know more, we'll update this page. Pls assist by only contacting us for life-threatening issues as our teams have no additional details to provide.
— Energex (@Energex) May 25, 2021
Energex urged the community to only make contact for life-threatening issues.
Energex later said power had been restored to 250,000 properties.
“We’re advised the outage is due to a loss of generation at a power station,” the power distributor said.
“We’re working with agencies & station operators to restore supply to our network as soon as power is available.”
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