Temporary Generation North and its smaller sibling

Temporary Generation South Temporary Generation South and its larger sibling Temporary Generation North were gas turbine power stations in South Australia. They were bought by the Government of South Australia in 2017 as a response to the 2016 South Australian blackout a ...

were

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, 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 directio ...

power stations in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. They were bought by the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

in 2017 as a response to the 2016 South Australian blackout and load-shedding in February 2017. Temporary Generation North was five

open cycle gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, 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 directio ...

s installed at the former Holden site in

Elizabeth South Elizabeth South is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Playford. It was established in the late 1950s as one of the earliest residential suburbs of the planned City of Elizabeth. As for its neighbours including Eli ...

, a northern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. It was closed in the first quarter of 2021 so that the turbines could be moved to become the

Snapper Point Power Station The Snapper Point Power Station is a gas turbine power station under development at Outer Harbor, South Australia, beside the older Pelican Point Power Station. Snapper Point Power Station is owned by Nexif Energy and is a peaking power plant ...

at Outer Harbor. The generators were purchased to be used only in emergency shortfalls in electricity supply to the grid, such as in extreme weather. Both sets were first used on 24 January 2019 to deal with a supply shortfall in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The intent of the Weatherill ALP state government was that the turbines would be converted from

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...

and moved to a single location while remaining owned by the government. In August 2019, the state government (following the

2018 election The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

, now controlled by the

Liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

) announced that it had arranged 25-year leases of the power stations to two different companies, with the leases taking effect from May 2020. Both companies operate wind farms in South Australia. The five northern generators were leased to

Nexif Energy Nexif RATCH Energy is a Singapore-based company that owns and operates wind farms and other renewable energy projects in several countries. It is a joint venture of Nexif and RATCH Group Thailand PCL founded in December 2022. Power sources In ...

and are being relocated to a new site at Outer Harbor and operating on natural gas, intended to be before the end of 2020. Nexif Energy also proposes to convert them to

combined cycle A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas tu ...

with a steam turbine in the following few years. This schedule was delayed by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, with Temporary Generation North closing in the first quarter of 2021, and Snapper Point in commissioning as of April 2022.

References

Diesel power stations in South Australia Buildings and structures completed in 2017 {{Australia-powerstation-stub