‘Pure luck nobody has been killed’: probes launched into Queensland coal-fired power station
Two separate investigations have been launched into a series of accidents and equipment failures at one of Queensland’s biggest coal-fired power stations.
Two separate investigations have been launched into a series of accidents and equipment failures at one of Queensland’s biggest coal-fired power stations.
All four units at the state-owned Callide power plant in central Queensland were knocked out for three hours on Friday, sparking fears of blackouts and price hikes this summer.
Mining and energy union bosses claim the state Labor government-owned CS Energy has put off much-needed maintenance at the plant, which contributed to catastrophic failures.
A Callide worker, who spoke to The Australian on the condition of anonymity, said it was “pure luck” nobody had been killed yet.
“What we are seeing is the end result of 15 years of poor management and cutting budgets and it is finally catching up and starting to bite them,” he said.
“The plant is just slowly run down to the point now where we are getting these catastrophic failures and we are lucky we haven’t had a loss of life, it is pure luck.”
One unit was taken out of action last Monday after a cooling tower collapsed; a second unit was tripped on Tuesday when a boiler blasted out high-pressure hot gas; and a third unit also tripped on Friday. The fourth unit at Callide has been offline since an explosion in May last year and won’t be fixed until April.
The power plant worker said there could have been serious injury or death when the tower collapsed. “Some of our chemical plant operators, one of the points where they are meant to do inspections each shift is now underneath rubble,” he said. “Had it had gone at another time, it is quite possible they could have been in the direct path of that collapse.”
Documents seen by The Australian reveal state-owned CS Energy was warned in 2017 of the inevitable collapse of the rotting timber cooling tower. An approval request, made by the plant’s asset engineer in 2017, warned “collapse will occur due to further wood deterioration” if internal structures were not repaired.
Mining and Energy Union district vice-president Shane Brunker said a pre-feasibility study to repair the tower, requested by the asset engineer, never happened.
CS Energy chief executive Andrew Bills said two studies were conducted in 2016 and 2019.
“Maintenance work was completed to plan and forward work was planned based on inspections and advice,” he said.
“Investment in the Callide C cooling towers is a multi-year refurbishment program.
“Safety is our highest priority at CS Energy and we will do everything we can to support these external, independent experts in carrying out their work.”
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni will brief cabinet on Monday about two separate investigations, one by Queensland’s workplace health and safety regulator and another by two external engineering experts.
Mr de Brenni said energy supply exceeded demand on Sunday. “There are currently no projected supply issues for summer, noting there are a range of variables that change on a daily basis, including what happens in other states connected to the national grid.”
