Tarong Energy

Last updated

Tarong Energy
Public
IndustryEnergy
Headquarters
Brisbane
,
Australia
Area served
Queensland
ProductsElectricity
Number of employees
570
Parent Stanwell Corporation

Tarong Energy was an electricity generation company in Australia. It was fully owned by the Queensland Government, and had a portfolio of generating sites using thermal coal and hydroelectric power in Queensland. Following a review by the Treasurer of Queensland of the state's electricity sector in 2010, the assets of Tarong Energy were split between Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy on 1 July 2011. Tarong Energy as an entity became a subsidiary of Stanwell Corporation. [1] The restructure was made to save costs.

Electricity generation Process of generating electrical power

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utilities in the electric power industry, it is the first stage in the delivery of electricity to end users, the other stages being transmission, distribution, energy storage and recovery, using the pumped-storage method.

Australia Country in Oceania

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

Government of Queensland state government of Queensland, Australia

The Government of Queensland, also referred to as the Queensland Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Queensland has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, Queensland ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth. Key state government offices are located at 1 William Street in the Brisbane central business district.

The company supplied roughly one quarter of Queensland's electricity supply. Energy was sourced from Tarong Power Station, Tarong North Power Station and Wivenhoe Power Station in Queensland.

The Tarong Power Station is a coal fired power station located on a 1,500 hectares site in Tarong in the South Burnett Region near the Burnett River and Nanango, in Queensland, Australia. The station has a maximum generating capacity of 1,400 megawatts, generated from four turbines. Coal is supplied via a conveyor from Meandu Mine, which is 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) away and is also owned by Stanwell.

Tarong North Power Station is a 443 megawatt coal fired power station on the same site as Tarong Power Station in the South Burnett. The Queensland Government commissioned the construction of the power station in November 1999. Construction work began in 2000. The power station was initially owned by a 50/50 joint venture between Tarong Energy and TM Energy. Full ownership of the power station by Tarong Energy was obtained in November 2009.

Wivenhoe Power Station dam in Wivenhoe Pocket, Queensland

The Wivenhoe Power Station is situated between the Splityard Creek Dam and Lake Wivenhoe. The Splityard Creek dam is situated in hills adjacent to Lake Wivenhoe and is about 100 metres (330 ft) above it.

Tarong Power Station is the major employer in the South Burnett region. [2] The company has been working on post-combustion emission capture technologies in an effort to reduce the impacts of climate change. [3]

South Burnett Region in Queensland, Australia

The South Burnett is a peanut growing and wine-producing area on the Great Dividing Range, north of the Darling Downs, in Queensland. It is with the basin of the Burnett River. The area is within two local government areas, South Burnett Region and Gympie Region.

Climate change Change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns for an extended period

Climate change occurs when changes in Earth's climate system result in new weather patterns that last for at least a few decades, and maybe for millions of years. The climate system comprises five interacting parts, the atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), cryosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. The climate system receives nearly all of its energy from the sun, with a relatively tiny amount from earth's interior. The climate system also gives off energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, and the passage of the energy through the climate system, determines Earth's energy budget. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, earth's energy budget is positive and the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the energy budget is negative and earth experiences cooling.

See also

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The Tarong and Tarong North Power Stations source water from the Brisbane River catchment via a pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam. Cooling tower blowdown water is either discharged directly to Tarong Energy's Meandu Creek Dam or supplied to the nearby Tarong Mine owned by Rio Tinto Coal Australia. Excess water from the mine is discharged back to Meandu Creek Dam. Releases from Meandu Creek Dam supply downstream irrigators on Meandu Creek.

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References

  1. "Smooth transition into new structure for Queensland Government Gencos". Press Release. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  2. "USQ study shows Tarong Energy's contribution to South Burnett economy". Media Release. University of Southern Queensland . Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  3. Stephen Robertson (20 August 2009). "New conditions for coal-fired power to underpin clean energy future". My Sunshine Coast Life. Retrieved 23 August 2009.