Troublesome power plant’s return delayed amid surging energy prices
In the middle of spiralling energy prices the trouble-plagued Callide C generators in central Queensland have had their return to operation extended out to mid-2024, according to CS Energy.
The generator has been out of action since late last year but its C4 unit has been out since May 2021, following an explosion, meaning it was likely to be out of action for three years.
Energy Minister Mich de Brenni had initially said C4 would return to service by the end of 2022, but that has now been pushed back four times.
“While CS Energy management has address the reasons for this (delay) I remain incrediably frustrated by this delay,” de Brenni said.
“While I’m not happy with the situation I am advised the system remains forecast to maintain adequacy of supply.”
It’s the second time this year the return of the units has been delayed. The first, in March, led to a spike in energy prices.
You might like
The Opposition said the delay would lead to higher prices for Queensland energy consumers and pointed to comments from the Auditor General which said: “a lack of supply, from unplanned maintenance in power plants like Callide, is a primary factor in driving up electricity prices”.
“Both the Auditor-General and Queensland Competition Authority have exposed the Palaszczuk Labor Government’s failures to properly manage the Callide generators is directly responsible for higher electricity costs facing Queenslanders,” Opposition energy spokesman Pat Weir said.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government promised on 150 occasions power prices would go down under Labor, and they haven’t.”
CS Energy said new management had been put in place to improve the performance, but the revised project schedule had come from independent experts brought in to review the work.
Stay informed, daily
In the latest update from CS Energy, C4’s two generators could remain out of action until May and June next year. Previous estimates were for October and January. Callide Power Station is comprised of two power plants, Callide B and C, each with two generating units (B1 and B2, C3 and C4).
The two C3 generators were expected to return in January and February.
CS Energy acting chief executive Andrew Varvari said the performance of the business it jointly owned “had not been good enough and must be improved”.
The joint venture was with the now-collapsed IG, a company that went into adminstration earlier this year.
“CS Energy is acutely aware of the importance of reliable energy generation from coal-fired generators such as the Callide C pwoer station, particularly at a time of high gas and coal prices and with reducing coal generation across the energy sector.”
He said the company was doing everything it could to get the units back on line, but the cooling towers had to be demolished and rebuilt and the recommissioning of the generator units was highly complex and had been complicated by IG’s collapse.
“We have completed the bulk of the rebuild works on unit C4 following the incident in May 2021 and introduced improvements to make the site safer,” Varvari said.
