Coal for power Part 2 - NSW being pushed to find answers

Brisbane (Barlow Jonker)- Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, is facing a dilemma – an official report calling for immediate action to increase baseload electricity generation, alongside the increasing political unpopularity of coal as power generation fuel. Part 2 of a snapshot of coal-fired power stations profiles New South Wales and Western Australian generators.

Currently coal-powered generation in NSW consumes around 30Mt of coal a year, with most of the state’s power stations running sub-critical, pulverized fuel boiler turbine units.

The recent, state-commissioned Owen Report on the NSW electricity industry says additional investment is needed immediately, to bring on extra baseload generation by 2013-14, for the state to avoid energy shortfalls. In essence, the Owen Report cautions that NSW cannot afford to wait for clean coal technologies for power generation to reach commercial viability before the state sources new baseload capacity.

The state’s coalfields host enormous reserves of coal seam gas, but there’s a cost premium in gas over coal – notwithstanding the lower carbon emissions of CSG – that state utilities planners will take into account.

There’s also a time differentiation – potentially up to 10 years from a “go” decision to commissioning of a coal-fired power plant, against eight years to have a gas-fired plant operating, according to the Owen Report.

Of the three new coal-fired generation technologies – ultra-supercritical pulverized coal (USPC), integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal and ultra clean coal (UCC) – only USPC generation could, according to analysts, be operational by 2013-14. USPC-fired power stations are able to run at higher efficiency. Ultra-supercritical generally means that steam to drive the turbines is pressurized to above 26MPa and reaches temperatures between 580-600°C.

According to Owen, in the absence of an emissions trading scheme, USPC power stations are the cheapest means of generating baseload electricity for NSW.

UCC is produced from thermal coal treated chemically to remove minerals and alkalis, which is then fed directly into a gas turbine. The technology is being developed by White Mining in conjunction with CSIRO and an 18-month demonstration trial of a 6-15MW gas turbine is planned for next year.

Redbank Power Station

The 150MW Redbank power station, near Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley, is owned by Babcock & Brown Power. Beneficated dewatered coal tailings (BDT-fuel), delivered from Warkworth mine’s coal preparation plant via a 3.8km conveyor, is used to fuel two circulating fines fluidized bed boilers.

The power station consumes about 80t/h of the 25%-30% moisture BDT-fuel that includes fine and ultra-fine coal. About 400k dry tonnes of the BDT-fuel are consumed each year, as well as about 100k dry tonnes of back-up fuel consisting of crushed high-ash coal. The Redbank stockpile is maintained at about 20kt of BDT-fuel for boiler start-up and back-up purposes.

Bayswater Power Station

The 2,640MW Bayswater power station, commissioned in 1985, is Australia’s largest, along with Eraring power station. State-owned through Macquarie Generation, it consists of four x 660MW coal-fired steam cycle generating units. The Bayswater station, between Singleton and Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter region, consumes about 8Mtpa of coal.

Liddell Power Station

The Macquarie Generation-owned Liddell power station was commissioned in 1972. The four x 500MW coal-fired steam cycle generator units consume about 5Mt of coal a year. The four generating units are undergoing turbine upgrades, to increase generating capacity by 100MW from each and to lower CO2 emissions by 700ktpa, in a A$82M program. The upgrades involve three sequential stages: low pressure, intermediate pressure and high pressure, with the project expected to be completed in 2008.

Mt Piper Power Station

The Delta Electricity-owned Mt Piper power station, 25km west Lithgow, has two x 660MW steam-driven generator units. Pulverised coal is used in the coal-fired boilers. When both generating units are operating at full capacity, about 14kt of coal are consumed daily, leaving about 3.5kt of ash, which is transported by conveyor to a nearby disused, open-cut mine.

Wallerawang Power Station

The Wallerawang C Power station, also owned by Delta Electricity, has a total capacity of 1,000MW provided by two x 500MW steam-driven turbo generator units fuelled by pulverized coal. The power station, which began operation in 1976, is 15km west of Lithgow.

More than 75% of the power station’s coal requirement is met by the nearby Angus Place colliery. Additional stock is supplied by local, privately owned mines and Wallerwang uses up to 2.2Mt of coal a year.

Vales Point Power Station

The Delta Electricity-owned Vales Point B Power Station uses pulverised coal to fuel two x 660MW steam-driven generating units installed in late 1978. The power station is at the southern end of Lake Macquarie, 35km south of Newcastle, on the Central Coast. Coal is supplied from local mines.

Munmorah Power Station

The 600MW Munmorah power station, located on the coastal strip between the Tuggerah Lakes, is 110km north of Sydney. It is another Delta asset. Coal is supplied by conveyor from adjacent underground mines, the coal delivered either to the station’s bunkers for immediate use or to a 750kt capacity coal storage area.

Eraring Power Station

Eraring power station, operated by Eraring Energy, is on the western shore of Lake Macquarie, near the town of Dora Creek. The four x 660MW steam-driven generating units were commissioned between 1982 and 1984.

The 6.2Mt of coal consumed annually is sourced from five local mines. About half the reclaimed ash is sold for use in cement, building products and road base, the remainder sent in slurry to an ash disposal area.

Western Australia

Muju

The 854MW Muju coal-fired power station is 225km southeast of Perth and 22km east of Collie. It has two 200MW generating units and two 227MW units. It is owned and operated by Western Australian government-owned Verve Energy.

Kwinana

The Verve Energy-owned and operated 880MW Kwinana power station, located 40km south of Perth, is able to burn three fuels – coal, gas and oil. It was designed as an oil-fired power station when it opened in 1970, but was converted to coal and later to gas and oil firing was re-introduced in 2005. The power station consists of six generating units.

Collie

The 330MW Collie coal-fired power station is 10km north of Collie. Opened in 1999, the single unit station is owned by Verve Energy but operated by Transfield Services and Burns Roe Worley. The station is using some 1Mt of coal a year, which arrives by conveyor from local mines.

Bluewaters project

The Griffin Group is building the 208MW Blueswater 1 baseload power station 4km north east of Collie, which is expected to be commissioned next year. Coal supplies for the $400M station will be sourced from Griffin coal mines within 2km of the plant. A second 208MW unit is being developed.

Coolimba project

Integrated energy company, Aviva Corporation, plans to build a $1B, 400MW coal-fired power station in the mid-west region, 270km north of Perth. Construction work is expected to start in late 2008 and the project is expected to be completed in 2011. Coal will be supplied from the Central West coal deposit 20km south of Eneabba.