Liddell Power Station
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Liddell Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired
thermal power station A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...
that had four EE steam-driven turbine
alternator An alternator (or synchronous generator) is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field wit ...
s, providing a combined electrical capacity of . Its operating capacity was assessed at in April 2018. Commissioned between 1971 and 1973, the station is located adjacent to Lake Liddell, near
Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney bas ...
in the
Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...
of Australia. Unit 3 was taken out of service on 1 April 2022. Subsequently, Unit 4 was decommissioned on 24 April 2023, followed by Unit 2 on 26 April 2023. The last unit, Unit 1, was removed from service on 28 April 2023.


History

In September 1964, the
Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...
announced its intention to construct the Liddell Power Station and create a lake for cooling, Lake Liddell. The first of four generators was completed in 1971, two more in 1972, and the fourth in 1973. At the time of completion, Liddell was the most powerful generating station in Australia. It was also the first major power station in New South Wales to be built inland, using fresh water for cooling instead of the more abundant saltwater used in coastal power stations. To accommodate this change, Lake Liddell was created to provide cooling, requiring an 11-kilometre section of the
Main Northern railway line The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia, running from Strathfield railway station, Strathfield in Sydney to Armidale railway station, Armidale. The 1980s saw the line clo ...
to be rebuilt on a new alignment. The completion of Liddell aided in the retirement of power stations in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, such as Balmain and Bunnerong. Originally, the plant was fitted with the then-standard electrostatic precipitators for dust collection, and the more efficient fabric filters (similar to those used at Eraring, Munmorah units 3 and 4, Vales Point 5+6,
Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
, and Mount Piper) were retrofitted in the early 1990s, reducing particulate emissions to a barely visible level. Much of the coal was supplied by overland conveyors from mines it shared with the nearby Bayswater Power Station. In 2007, a project commenced at Liddell to replace some of the station's boiler feed-water with hot water from a solar thermal array. By March 2007, the project had reached a second-stage prototype but had not been connected to the power station. Subsequently, a 9 MW solar section was added to the Liddell coal-fired generator, but it has now effectively been closed. Analysts say that the incentive to use the solar boost was reduced by the removal of the
carbon price Carbon pricing (or pricing) is a method for governments to mitigate climate change, in which a monetary cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions. This is done to encourage polluters to reduce fossil fuel combustion, the main driver of climat ...
and excess coal supply. Liddell Power Station was owned by the Electricity Commission of New South Wales, with ownership transferred to Macquarie Generation in 1996. In September 2014, Liddell was included in the sale of Macquarie Generation by the New South Wales government to AGL Energy.


Alternative fuel sources

In addition to the coal-fired steam turbines, Liddell Power Station also operates two GEC 25 MW
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
-fired
gas turbines A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the direction of flow: ...
and a 0.85 MW mini-
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
generator. The power station is also "licensed to co-fire plant
biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...
and coal to produce electricity," allowing it to utilize
sawdust Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling and routing. It is composed of very small chips of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, portable p ...
and wood shavings from the nearby
timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
as a portion of its fuel, replacing up to 5% of its coal requirements. However, in practice, biomass accounts for only about 0.5% of Liddell's total output.


Greenhouse emissions

According to estimates from Carbon Monitoring for Action, Liddell Power Station emits approximately 14.70 million tonnes of
greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
annually due to burning coal. In 2010, the Australian Government introduced a
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (or CPRS) was a cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme for anthropogenic greenhouse gases proposed by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy, which had been due to commence in Australia i ...
to combat climate change. This scheme has had an impact on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of various pollutant emissions, including
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
, which was estimated to be for the year ending 30 June 2011. A '' Freedom of Information'' request in 2018 revealed that Liddell is permitted to emit three times more nitrogen oxide than the amount allowed under best practice guidelines.


Operations

The generation table uses eljmkt nemlog to obtain generation values for each year. Records date back to 2011.


Closure and site rehabilitation

AGL announced in 2015 and confirmed in 2017 that it intends to close the Liddell Power Station in 2022. The closure of this and other coal-burning power stations in Australia led the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
to seek advice from the Australian Energy Market Operator on extending the life of a number of them, to head off anticipated future electricity shortages. Turnbull said the government had been advised that if the Liddell plant were to close in 2022, there would be a 1000MW gap in
base load The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants or dispatchable generation, depending on which approach has the best m ...
, dispatchable power generation. The
Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...
asked AGL to keep Liddell open beyond 2022, or to sell the Liddell Power Plant to Alinta Energy. In August 2019, AGL announced that three of the turbines would be able to be kept running until April 2023, to ensure reliable power supply to New South Wales during the 2022–23 summer. In December 2018, a proposed upgrade to the Bayswater Power Station was approved to be completed around the same time as the proposed closure of Liddell. Both are owned by AGL Energy and consume coal from the same mine. The upgrade approval did not impose tighter air emission controls, however AGL claimed that the closure of Liddell would result in a net improvement in air quality. The demolition process is expected to commence in early 2024 and take approximately two years. Work will include removal of all main structures (boilers, chimneys, turbine houses, coal plant) and ancillary buildings, and levelling of the site using recovered crushed concrete. More than 90 per cent of the materials in the power station are expected to be recycled during demolition, including 70,000 tonnes of steel, more than the total weight of steel works for the
Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...
. Critical infrastructure, such as transmission connections, will be retained to support the ongoing use of the site as an industrial energy hub, helping provide employment and essential economic activity for the region. Planning approval has already been granted for a 500MW/2GWh grid-scale battery. Unit 3 was removed from service on 1 April 2022. Unit 4 was removed from service on 24 April 2023. Unit 2 was removed from service on 26 April 2023. The last unit, Unit 1, was removed from service on 28 April 2023. Since April 2022, Liddell has typically been generating 750 MW on average. There is a 200-hectare dam containing 39m tonnes of coal ash at the Liddell site, and heavy metals have leached into Lake Liddell. AGL has earmarked $1.5 billion for cleanup of the Liddell, Bayswater, Torrens Island and Loy Yang A sites. Construction of a 500 MW / 1,000 MWh grid battery started in 2025.


Future land use

In late March 2024,
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
, the Australian Prime Minister at the time, unveiled a significant government initiative aimed at bolstering the nation's renewable energy sector. The announcement centered around a substantial investment of $1 billion to transform a designated site into a manufacturing hub for the Solar SunShot project. This initiative represents a strategic move towards fostering domestic production of solar panels, aligning with broader efforts to reduce carbon emissions and transition towards cleaner sources of energy. The Solar SunShot project aims to drive innovation and efficiency in solar panel technology. By establishing a stable manufacturing facility in Australia, the government seeks to stimulate economic growth but and to position the country as a leader in renewable energy production and innovation on the global stage. Such initiatives are crucial for mitigating the environmental impact of traditional energy sources and advancing towards a more sustainable and resilient energy future. This strategic investment not only has the potential to create jobs and drive economic development but also signifies a major step towards realizing Australia's renewable energy goals. It highlights the importance of proactive government policies and public-private partnerships in driving innovation and facilitating the transition to a greener, more sustainable energy landscape. In June 2024,
Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...
said he intends, if elected, to build one of seven government-owned
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
s on this site, to be operational by 2035–2037. as part of Australia's
net zero emissions Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...
2050 strategy.


See also

*
Energy in Australia Energy in Australia is the production in Australia of World energy resources and consumption, energy and Electricity generation, electricity, for consumption or export. Energy policy of Australia describes the politics of Australia as it re ...


References


External links


Proposed 38 MW solar thermal "coal saver" plant at Liddell
* {{Hunter Region places and items of interest Former coal-fired power stations Muswellbrook Shire Energy infrastructure completed in 1971 1971 establishments in Australia 2023 disestablishments in Australia