Queensland power unit could be out for a year

One of Queensland’s main coal-fired power stations could be partly offline for up to a year after a series of explosions caused a fire that cut power to half a million homes and businesses.

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni. Picture: Dan Peled

One of Queensland’s main coal-fired power stations could be partly offline for up to a year after a series of explosions caused a fire that cut power to half a million homes and businesses.

Investigators are trying to figure out the cause of the explosions at the Callide C power plant, near Biloela in central Queensland. Government-owned operators CS Energy revealed one of the power station’s four generators suffered major damage and would be offline indefinitely, with some experts saying it could be up to a year.

It is unlikely to have a significant impact on long term power prices because the state’s other coal-fired power stations, which have been running at sub-optimal levels, will now run more efficiently to make up for the lost generation from Callide until it returns to full capacity, a senior energy industry source said.

The incident has raised questions about the maintenance and safety of the generator, which was built in 2001 and is one of the newest in the state.

After the initial explosion about 2pm Tuesday, 219 workers were evacuated while three firefighters based at the power station fought the fire until 25 firefighters in five vehicles arrived. The blaze was brought under control by midnight.

The sudden loss of supply from the 1.5 gigawatt power station caused other central Queensland stations on the grid to temporarily shut down as a precaution, triggering the mass blackout across the state. The shutdown caused the spot price for wholesale electricity to jump from its usual average of about $30 to $15,000 per megawatt hour.

There were concerns that people returning home would put increased strain on the network when supply was low, leading to possible load shedding in which AEMO cuts power to certain areas to prevent the system from failing completely. Some major power users were asked to cut their usage during the evening peak and the government urged people to limit their usage.

However, load shedding was not required, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament on Wednesday.

The state Opposition asked whether CS Energy’s payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends to the state government had led to underinvestment in maintenance at the station.

Queensland’s Energy Minister Mick de Brenni rejected the suggestion, saying laws required energy providers to ensure upkeep of facilities.

“I can categorically confirm that all of our generation assets are performing safely,” he said. “I can categorically confirm that we have enough electricity to supply households and businesses.”

CS Energy said the unit could be out of action for a year.

Paul McArdle from Brisbane energy consultancy Global-Roam said CS may be taking a conservative view at this early stage, but “anything involving the generator and/or turbine may take many weeks (or months) to fix”.