Yallourn Power Station

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Yallourn Power Station
Yallourn-w-power-station-australia.jpg
Yallourn W Power Station viewed from the south
Yallourn Power Station
Location of the Yallourn Power Station
CountryAustralia
Location Yallourn, Victoria
Coordinates 38°10′42″S146°20′21″E / 38.17833°S 146.33917°E / -38.17833; 146.33917
StatusOperational
Construction began1921
Commission date
  • Yallourn A: 1928
  • Yallourn B: 1932
  • Yallourn C: 1954
  • Yallourn D: 1957
  • Yallourn E: 1961
  • Yallourn W: 1973-1982
Decommission date
  • A: 1969
  • B: 1970
  • C: 1985
  • D: 1986
  • E: 1989
Owner(s) EnergyAustralia (Yallourn W)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Brown coal
Power generation
Units operational
  • A: 70 MW (94,000 hp)
  • B: 100 MW (130,000 hp)
  • C: 120 MW (160,000 hp)
  • D: 120 MW (160,000 hp)
  • E: 2 × 120 MW (160,000 hp)
  • W: 2 × 350 MW (470,000 hp)
  • W: 2 × 375 MW (503,000 hp)
Nameplate capacity 1,480 MW (1,980,000 hp)
External links
Website Energy Australia - Yallourn Power Station
Commons Related media on Commons
[ edit on Wikidata]

The Yallourn Power Station, now owned by EnergyAustralia a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong-Kong-based CLP Group, is located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia, beside the Latrobe River, with the company town of Yallourn located to the south west. Yallourn PS was a complex of six brown coal –fired thermal power stations built progressively from the 1920s to the 1960s; all except one have now been decommissioned. Today, only the 1,450 megawatts (1,940,000 hp) Yallourn W plant remains. It is the second largest power station in Victoria, supplying 22% of Victoria's electricity and 8% of the National Electricity Market. The adjacent open cut brown coal mine is the largest open cut coal mine in Australia, with reserves sufficient to meet the projected needs of the power station to 2028. On 10 March 2021, EnergyAustralia announced that it will close the Yallourn Power Station in mid-2028, four years ahead of schedule, and instead build a 350 megawatt battery in the Latrobe Valley by the end of 2026. At the time, Yallourn produced about 20% of Victoria's electricity. [1]

Contents

Yallourn A, B, C, D and E

Map of the major towns and coal-fired power stations in the Latrobe Valley LaTrobe Valley CFPS.png
Map of the major towns and coal-fired power stations in the Latrobe Valley

Power generation at Yallourn was first proposed in 1919 when the Victorian Government appointed a committee to investigate the use of coal from the Latrobe Valley. The plant was operated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, and the first sod was turned at the Yallourn Power Station site in 1921. [2] Along with the power station, the town of Yallourn was constructed nearby to house workers of the plant. [3] Coal was moved from the open cut mine to the power station by the Yallourn 900mm Railway, a narrow gauge electric railway running along temporary tracks in the mine. [4] The Morwell Interconnecting Railway was later provided to the Morwell power station and briquette works for the transfer of Yallourn coal to the briquette works, as Morwell mine (now called Hazelwood mine) coal did not briquette satisfactorily. [4]

In the complex, Yallourn A was the first plant opened in 1928. "A" station consisted of 6 Metro Vickers sets each 12.5MW. Steam was supplied by 12 John Thompson chain grate boilers each producing 80,000 lb/hr at 260PSI and 640 °F (338 °C).

Yallourn B entering service on 11 April 1932. B station consisted of 4 Metro Vickers sets of 25MW. Steam was supplied by 10 John Thompson chain grate boilers each producing 120,000 lb/hr at 260PSI and 670 °F. [5] [6] Yallourn A was demolished in 1968, and Yallourn B following in the early 1970s. Yallourn C, D and E stations were commissioned in 1954, 1957 and 1961 respectively, [7] and provided the bulk of Victoria's power until Hazelwood Power Station became operational in the mid 1960s. [8] Yallourn A, B, C & D were constructed as 'range'-type power stations that connected individual boilers to a common steam range before connecting to the turbine.

C station had 2 turbo alternators, each 60 megawatts (80,000 hp). Steam was supplied by 6 pulverized coal burning water tube boilers. Each boiler produced 200,000lbs/hour at 645psi and 825 °F (441 °C). D station was exactly the same as C station.

E station had 2 units, each 120 megawatts (160,000 hp) with hydrogen cooled generators but no stator water cooling. Steam came from 2 PF boilers, each producing 950,000lbs/hour at 1600psi and 1,050 °F (566 °C). Yallourn E was the first unitised station constructed in the complex, as each boiler was paired with its own turbine.

Yallourn E station ceased generating power in January 1989, with C, D and E plants being demolished from 1995 onwards, with the site being cleared by 1999. [3] The narrow gauge railway in the mine was replaced by conveyor belts in 1984, and the Morwell Interconnecting Railway was replaced by road haulage in 1993. [4]

Briquette factory

In conjunction with the power station, the open cut mine also fed a briquette factory operated by the SECV. The first stage of the factory came into operation in November 1924 with a capacity of about 400 long tons (410 t) per day, with a major extension approved in 1927 and completed early in 1931 increasing the capacity to 1,200 long tons (1,200 t) per day. Using German technology, the factory also generated electricity, with a maximum output of approximately 10 megawatts (13,000 hp) it produced 220 megawatt-hours (790 GJ) daily, of which about 50 megawatt-hours (180 GJ) was used in the factory and 170 megawatt-hours (610 GJ) was fed into the state grid. [9] The plant closed in 1970, after the discovery and reticulation of natural gas in Victoria which led to the closure of the major Lurgi briquette gasification plant in Morwell. [10] Remaining demand for briquettes was met by the Morwell briquette factory that was opened in 1959. It was shut down in 2014. [11]

Yallourn W

Yallourn W power station with brown coal mine in the front Coal power plant (8623298309).jpg
Yallourn W power station with brown coal mine in the front

The current Yallourn W power station was built in the 1970s at Yallourn West. The four units are Toshiba built 3 stage reheat turbines with steam supplied by four 'subcritical' pulverized coal-fired boilers. [12] In 1969 it was announced that the town of Yallourn would be demolished to enable an expansion of the coal mine, with demolition commencing in the 1970s and completed by 1982. [13] Yallourn W power station was the second Victorian generating entity to be privatised in 1996 when it was sold to a consortium including PowerGen, Itochu, AMP, Hastings and NSW State Super. The plant is currently owned by Hong Kong-based CLP and operates under the EnergyAustralia brand (formally TRUenergy).

With the coal supply from Yallourn's East Field mine expected to be exhausted in 2007, work commenced on a diversion of the nearby Morwell River in 2002 to enable access to further coal sources from the Maryvale coal field. Without this, the power station potentially faced significant modification or even closure. The Morwell River Diversion, and the access to coal supplies it allows, will ensure Yallourn can continue to operate until 2032. The 3.5-kilometre (2.2 mi) diversion was constructed over five years at a cost of A$122 million, and came in on time and on budget. [14] On 6 June 2012, a levee bank failure resulted in the flooding of the Yallourn coal mine causing damage to its infrastructure and cutting fuel supply to the power station. [15]

In 2007 the station's name was shortened to be "Yallourn Power Station". In late 2007, a subsidence in the mine wall resulted in the Latrobe River bursting through, damaging coal conveying plant and flooding low levels of the mine. Urgent earthwork repairs were made with the co-operation of other power generators. Coal production was limited for some weeks.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 10.7 million tonnes (11.8×10^6 short tons; 10.5×10^6 long tons) of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. [16] The Australian Government announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. It is expected to impact on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but not CO2. [17]

During 2018 and 2019, the station had 37 outages. [18]

Fire

On 21 June 2013 a fire broke out in a control panel causing three units to trip. [19] This multi-unit contingency caused a "Pricing Event" on the National Electricity Market, and the Market Operator reported the event as part of an industrial action campaign. [20] Police later announced their finding that the event was an act of sabotage. [21]

Closure announcement

On 10 March 2021, it was announced that the closure date for Yallourn W had been revised from 2032 to 2028 due to low wholesale electricity prices as well as rising operating costs. [22] A 350MW battery is set to be completed by 2026. [1]

Engineering heritage award

The power station site is listed as an Engineering Heritage National Landmark by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program. [23]

Jessie Deakin Brookes as the state of Victoria including a headpiece modelled on the Yallourn power station transmission tower Jessie Clarke.jpg
Jessie Deakin Brookes as the state of Victoria including a headpiece modelled on the Yallourn power station transmission tower

In 1934, Jessie Deakin Brookes wore a costume for the Pageant of Nations celebrating the centenary of Victoria, created by Thelma Thomas. It featured three Melbourne buildings, the Murray Darling river and irrigation system and its headpiece was modelled on the Yallourn power station transmission tower. [24] It was the inspiration of the exhibition Velvet, Iron, Ashes at the State Library in Victoria in 2019-2020. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Latrobe</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The City of Latrobe is a local government area in the Gippsland region in eastern Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of 1,426 square kilometres (551 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 75,211. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living within the four major urban areas of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, and Churchill, and other significant settlements in the LGA include Boolarra, Callignee, Glengarry, Jeeralang, Newborough, Toongabbie, Tyers, Yallourn North and Yinnar. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Moe, City of Morwell, City of Traralgon, Shire of Traralgon, and parts of the Shire of Narracan and Shire of Rosedale. The Yallourn Works Area was added in 1996. When formed, the municipality was called the Shire of La Trobe, but on 6 April 2000, it adopted its current name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yallourn</span>

Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of the adjacent open-cut brown coal mine led to the closure and removal of the town in the 1980s. Whilst the township no longer exists, at the 2006 census, the adjacent region classified as Yallourn had a population of 251.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loy Yang Power Station</span>

The Loy Yang Power Station is a brown coal- fired thermal power station located on the outskirts of the city of Traralgon, in south-eastern Victoria, Australia. It consists of two sections, known as Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B. Both Loy Yang A and B are supplied by the Loy Yang brown coal mine. The Loy Yang power stations are located in the brown coal rich Latrobe Valley, along with the Yallourn Power Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazelwood Power Station</span> Brown coal-fueled thermal power station

The Hazelwood Power Station was a decommissioned brown coal-fuelled thermal power station located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia. Built between 1964 and 1971, the 1,600-megawatt-capacity power station was made up of eight 200MW units, and supplied up to 25% of Victoria's base load electricity and more than 5% of Australia's total electricity demand. It was a 'subcritical' pulverized coal-fired boiler. The station was listed as the least carbon efficient power station in the OECD in a 2005 report by WWF Australia, making it one of the most polluting power stations in the world. At 1.56 tonnes of CO2 for each megawatt hour of electricity, it was 50% more polluting than the average black coal power station in New South Wales or Queensland. Hazelwood emitted 14% of Victoria's annual greenhouse gas emissions and 3% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

EnergyAustralia is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using coal fired generation, at the Yallourn Power Station in Victoria, and the Mount Piper Power Station in New South Wales. 10% of its generation is from wind power, 32% from gas, and 58% from coal. It is Australia's second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, after AGL Energy. As a loss making company in 2023, its parent in Hong Kong, CLP Group, has stated that it is looking for "good partners", however as of this time, there were no plans to build new renewable energy itself. It will however, partner, or purchase renewable energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Electricity Commission of Victoria</span> Government electricity supplier in Victoria, Australia

The State Electricity Commission of Victoria is a government-owned renewable electricity investment enterprise in Victoria, Australia. Originally a major energy supplier in the state, the SEC was privatised in the 1990s before being revived in 2023 to invest in renewable energy and storage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liddell Power Station</span> Coal-fired power station in Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallerawang Power Station</span> Decommissioned thermal coal power station near Wallerawang, Australia

Wallerawang Power Station was a thermal coal power station, located near Wallerawang, in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The power station was equipped with two turbo-alternators of 500 megawatts (670,000 hp) each, supplied by CA Parsons and Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Production commenced in May 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy Brix Power Station</span>

The Energy Brix Power Station was a brown coal–fired thermal power station located at Morwell, in Victoria, Australia. The power station was used to supply electricity for the retail market, as well as the production of briquettes in the adjacent Energy Brix briquette works. It was shut down in August 2014 and is currently the earliest surviving large-scale power station designed to provide electricity to the state electricity network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yallourn North</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Yallourn North is a town in the City of Latrobe, Victoria, Australia. It is approximately eight kilometres north-east of Moe, and 146 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. Prior to 1947 Yallourn North was known as "Brown Coal Mine".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geelong Power Station</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Street Power Station</span>

Spencer Street Power Station was a Victorian era coal and (later) oil-fired power station which operated on Spencer Street in central Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station was opened in 1894, and supplied power to the city's residents, as well as being a wholesale supplier to other municipal distributors. It came under the management of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in 1941. By the 1960s the capacity of the station reached 109 MW, but was used only for peak load. The station was closed in 1982 after becoming redundant. Eventually deemed an eyesore, demolition commenced in 2006 and was completed in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport Power Station</span>

The Newport Power Station was a complex of power stations located on the west bank of the Yarra River, approximately 6 km south-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Newport. Newport A, B, and C were coal-fired plants which operated at the site between 1919 and the 1980s, and were claimed to be the largest power station in the southern hemisphere in 1953 with 42 boilers and 14 turbo-alternators producing 327 megawatts (439,000 hp).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Victoria</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallawarra Power Station</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yallourn 900 mm railway</span>

The Yallourn 900 mm railway was a 900 mm narrow gauge railway operated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia. The railway was built for the haulage of brown coal and overburden between the Yallourn open cut mine, briquette works, and power station. The Morwell Interconnecting Railway (ICR) was later constructed, linking the Yallourn mine complex with the Hazelwood open cut, briquette works, and power station.

Two different railway lines serviced Yallourn during its existence. Both were broad gauge branches from the main Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. The first was a line branching from a junction at Hernes Oak, situated between Moe and Morwell, which was in service from 1922 to 1955. The second Yallourn railway line junctioned at Moe, and was used between 1953 and 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morwell River</span> River in Victoria, Australia

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References

  1. 1 2 "Battery in, coal-fired power out as energy giant closes plant four years early". ABC News. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Yallourn Power Station (1919 - )" . Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  3. 1 2 "The Latrobe Valley". Archived from the original on 24 April 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 John Cleverdon. "SECV Electric Locomotives". Locopage. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  5. ↑ "Energy from Brown Coal". Latrobe City Council. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "Yallourn Power Station Bricklayers and Builders Labourers" . Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  7. ↑ Edwards, Cecil (1969). Brown Power. A jubilee history of the SECV. State Electricity Commission of Victoria.
  8. ↑ "Australia's largest power station demolition job set to commence". 9 March 1995. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  9. ↑ H. Herman (1934). "Mining Engineering in Victoria" (PDF). One Hundred Years of Engineering in Victoria: 419–420. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  10. ↑ Katalambula, Hassan; Gupta, Rajender (2009). "Low-Grade Coals: A Review of Some Prospective Upgrading Technologies† - Energy & Fuels". Energy Fuels. 23 (7): 3392–3405. doi:10.1021/ef801140t.
  11. ↑ ABC News website Future of Energy Brix power station and briquette factory remains unclear 19 Dec 2014 Retrieved 1 March 2015
  12. ↑ "Fossil Energy in Australia". Aneroid Energy.
  13. ↑ "Moe Yallourn". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  14. ↑ "TRUenergy - Mining" . Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  15. ↑ "Power generation cut as water flows into mine". ABC Online. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "Yallourn". Carbon Monitoring for Action. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "National Pollutant Inventory". Australian Government.
  18. ↑ "Queensland top state for breakdowns of fossil fuel power stations". The Australia Institute . 7 September 2020.
  19. ↑ Baxendale, Rachel (25 June 2013). "Yallourn power plant under picket". The Australian. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  20. ↑ "Pricing Event Reports - June 2013". Australian Energy Market Operator. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  21. ↑ "Yallourn power station fire 'an act of sabotage'". Australia: ABC News. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  22. ↑ "EnergyAustralia to close Yallourn coal plant in 2028, to build world's biggest battery". RenewEconomy. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "Yallourn Power Station site, 1924-1989". Engineers Australia. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  24. ↑ Power dressing: the story behind Jessie Brookes' 1934 outfit , retrieved 17 June 2022
  25. ↑ "Velvet, Iron, Ashes". State Library Victoria. Retrieved 17 June 2022.

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