Temporary Generation South and its larger sibling Temporary Generation North 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 South was four

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 at the former

Port Stanvac Refinery Port Stanvac Refinery was an oil refinery in the Australian state of South Australia located in Lonsdale, a southern suburb of Adelaide. Its construction was announced in 1958 and began refining crude oil in 1963. It had a capacity of 3.3 ...

at Lonsdale. The generators were purchased to be used only in emergency shortfalls in electricity supply to the grid, such as in extreme hot weather. They 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 will 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 four generators at Lonsdale will be leased to

Infigen Energy Infigen Energy (Infigen), operating under this name since 29 April 2009, is a developer, owner and operator of renewable energy generation assets in Australia. Infigen's wind farm portfolio has an installed capacity of 557 MW. Most of Infigen's ...

and will be moved from the SA Water desalination plant to the SA Water

Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant Bolivar is an outer northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Salisbury. History The suburb was established in 1956, and was named after the ''General Bolivar Hotel''. This hotel had been built by Walter Walpo ...

and converted to operate on natural gas instead of diesel. The plant was closed in May 2022, with intent to complete the relocation to Bolivar and conversion to gas by the end of 2022.

References

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