Vales Point Power Station is one of two operating

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

fired

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s on the shores of

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. The ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park. It has two

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

, with a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW (1,770,000 hp) of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. Vales Point was the first major power station in New South Wales to be located near its fuel source (coal). In November 2015, 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 ...

sold

Delta Electricity Delta Electricity is an electricity generation company in Australia. The company was formed by the Government of New South Wales in 1996 as part of its reform of the electricity sector in the State, which saw the breakup of the Electricity Comm ...

, which at that time owned only the Vales Point Power Station, to Sunset Power International for $1 million. In 2017 it was valued at $732 million, and was estimated to make part-owner energy entrepreneur and former

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

candidate

Trevor St Baker Trevor Charles St Baker is an Australian businessperson with interests in power station and fuel supply development. He is director of the St Baker Energy Trust and chair of Sunset Power International (trading as Delta Electricity). He is foun ...

a half billionaire. However, in December 2021, the value of the plant was cut to $156 million and the annual profit was reduced 93% to $9.3 million. The owner blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for reducing demand and an influx of cheaper renewables reducing wholesale electricity prices. In September 2022 Sunset Power owners announced the sale of Vales Point Power Station to a Czech family investment group Sev.En Global Investments.

A station

Vales Point was originally equipped with three turbo-alternators of 200 MW supplied by

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

(unit nos. 1 to 3) and one of 275 MW supplied by

Associated Electrical Industries Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of British Thomson-Houston (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to create the UK ...

(unit no. 4), for a total of 875 MW. The first two units were completed in 1963, and the third in 1964. Unit no. 4 was brought into use in 1966. In order to supply coal to the station, three mines were opened; Chain Valley Colliery, Newvale No.1 Colliery and Wyee State Mine. These four units were known as 'A' Station, its capacity of 875 MW being the highest in New South Wales at the time. Vales Point 'A' Station was decommissioned in 1989. The turbines were removed in 1997; the boilers and buildings were demolished between 2011 and 2014.

B station

In 1978, two

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

660 MW units were added, becoming "B" Station. The combined capacity of 2195 MW made Vales Point the largest power station in Australia at the time. The Toshiba 660 MW turbo-alternator became the standard in New South Wales, with similar units later being installed at Eraring,

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. Vales Point uses salt water from Lake Macquarie for cooling. The coal for Vales Point is delivered by

conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

and a

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

connection to 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 ...

between

Wyee Wyee ( ) is a small town in the City of Lake Macquarie local government area of the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. It is near the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway and has a railway station (opened 1892) on NSW TrainLink's Central Coast & ...

and

Morisset Morisset ( ;) is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie local government area in the Hunter Region, Hunter region in New South Wales, Australia. Morisset is a part of the Greater Newcastle area, it is located west of the l ...

. The balloon loop opened in March 1980.

Carbon Monitoring for Action The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. History It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, director ...

estimates this power station emits 9.32 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 ...

each year as a result of burning hydrocarbon fuels.

Operations

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

Excessive nitrogen oxide pollutants

As of 2021, the Vales Point Power Station emits more toxic nitrogen oxide pollutants than allowable under the

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Protection of the Environment Operations (Clean Air) Regulation 2021 in order to continue to legally operate (or otherwise cease operating), the operator applied for an exemption under its licence 761, which was granted on 15 December 2021 with a reduction variation and additional conditions imposed by the

New South Wales Environment Protection Authority The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is an independent statutory authority that sits in the Environment portfolio as part of the Planning and Environment cluster. It was established as an independent governing board in February 2012 s ...

In popular culture

Vales Point Power Station was used as the location for the

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

US Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

'' music video.

References