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= Yallourn Power Station =
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Introduction
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The Yallourn Power Station, now owned by EnergyAustralia a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Hong-Kong-based CLP Group, is located in the
Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia, beside the Latrobe River.
Yallourn PS was a complex of six brown coalfired thermal power
stations built progressively from the 1920s to the 1960s; all except
one have now been decommissioned. Today, only the 1450 MW Yallourn W
plant remains. It is the second largest power station in Victoria,
supplying 22% of Victoria's electricity and 8% of the National
Electricity Market. The adjacent open cut brown coal mine is the
largest open cut coal mine in Australia, with reserves sufficient to
meet the projected needs of the power station to 2028. On 10 March
2021, EnergyAustralia announced that it will close the Yallourn Power
Station in mid-2028, four years ahead of schedule, and instead build a
350 megawatt battery in the Latrobe Valley by the end of 2026. At the
time, Yallourn produced about 20% of Victoria's electricity.
Yallourn A, B, C, D and E
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Power generation at Yallourn was first proposed in 1919 when the
Victorian Government appointed a committee to investigate the use of
coal from the Latrobe Valley. The plant was operated by the State
Electricity Commission of Victoria, and the first sod was turned at
the Yallourn Power Station site in 1921. Along with the power station,
the town of Yallourn was constructed nearby to house workers of the
plant. Coal was moved from the open cut mine to the power station by
the Yallourn 900mm Railway, a narrow gauge electric railway running
along temporary tracks in the mine. The Morwell Interconnecting
Railway was later provided to the Morwell power station and briquette
works for the transfer of Yallourn coal to the briquette works, as
Morwell mine (now called Hazelwood mine) coal did not briquette
satisfactorily.
In the complex, Yallourn A was the first plant opened in 1928. "A"
station consisted of 6 Metro Vickers sets each 12.5MW. Steam was
supplied by 12 John Thompson chain grate boilers each producing 80,000
lb/hr at 260PSI and 640 °F.
Yallourn B entering service on 11 April 1932. B station consisted of 4
Metro Vickers sets of 25MW. Steam was supplied by 10 John Thompson
chain grate boilers each producing 120,000 lb/hr at 260PSI and 670 °F.
Yallourn A was demolished in 1968, and Yallourn B following in the
early 1970s. Yallourn C, D and E stations were commissioned in 1954,
1957 and 1961 respectively, and provided the bulk of Victoria's power
until Hazelwood Power Station became operational in the mid 1960s.
Yallourn A, B, C & D were constructed as 'range'-type power
stations that connected individual boilers to a common steam range
before connecting to the turbine.
C station had 2 turbo alternators, each 60 MW. Steam was supplied by 6
pulverized coal burning water tube boilers. Each boiler produced
200,000lbs/hour at 645psi and 825 °F. D station was exactly the same
as C station.
E station had 2 units, each 120 MW with hydrogen cooled generators but
no stator water cooling. Steam came from 2 PF boilers, each producing
950,000lbs/hour at 1600psi and 1050 °F. Yallourn E was the first
unitised station constructed in the complex, as each boiler was paired
with its own turbine.
Yallourn E station ceased generating power in January 1989, with C, D
and E plants being demolished from 1995 onwards, with the site being
cleared by 1999. The narrow gauge railway in the mine was replaced by
conveyor belts in 1984, and the Morwell Interconnecting Railway was
replaced by road haulage in 1993.
Briquette factory
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In conjunction with the power station, the open cut mine also fed a
briquette factory operated by the SECV. The first stage of the factory
came into operation in November 1924 with a capacity of about 400 LT
per day, with a major extension approved in 1927 and completed early
in 1931 increasing the capacity to 1200 LT per day. Using German
technology, the factory also generated electricity, with a maximum
output of approximately 10 MW it produced 220 MWh daily, of which
about 50 MWh was used in the factory and 170 MWh was fed into the
state grid. The plant closed in 1970, after the discovery and
reticulation of natural gas in Victoria which led to the closure of
the major Lurgi briquette gasification plant in Morwell. Remaining
demand for briquettes was met by the Morwell briquette factory that
was opened in 1959. It was shut down in 2014.
Yallourn W
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The current Yallourn W power station was built in the 1970s at
Yallourn West. The four units are Toshiba built 3 stage reheat
turbines with steam supplied by four 'subcritical' pulverized
coal-fired boilers. In 1969 it was announced that the town of Yallourn
would be demolished to enable an expansion of the coal mine, with
demolition commencing in the 1970s and completed by 1982. Yallourn W
power station was the second Victorian generating entity to be
privatised in 1996 when it was sold to a consortium including
PowerGen, Itochu, AMP, Hastings and NSW State Super. The plant is
currently owned by Hong Kong-based CLP and operates under the
EnergyAustralia brand (formally TRUenergy).
With the coal supply from Yallourn's East Field mine expected to be
exhausted in 2007, work commenced on a diversion of the nearby Morwell
River in 2002 to enable access to further coal sources from the
Maryvale coal field. Without this, the power station potentially faced
significant modification or even closure. The Morwell River Diversion,
and the access to coal supplies it allows, will ensure Yallourn can
continue to operate until 2032. The 3.5 km diversion was constructed
over five years at a cost of A$122 million, and came in on time and on
budget. On 6 June 2012, a levee bank failure resulted in the flooding
of the Yallourn coal mine causing damage to its infrastructure and
cutting fuel supply to the power station.
In 2007 the station's name was shortened to be "Yallourn Power
Station". In late 2007, a subsidence in the mine wall resulted in the
Latrobe River bursting through, damaging coal conveying plant and
flooding low levels of the mine. Urgent earthwork repairs were made
with the co-operation of other power generators. Coal production was
limited for some weeks.
Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 10.7
e6t of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The
Australian Government announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution
Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. It
is expected to impact on emissions from power stations. The National
Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but
not CO2.
During 2018 and 2019, the station had 37 outages.
Fire
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On 21 June 2013 a fire broke out in a control panel causing three
units to trip. This multi-unit contingency caused a "Pricing Event" on
the National Electricity Market, and the Market Operator reported the
event as part of an industrial action campaign. Police later announced
their finding that the event was an act of sabotage.
Closure announcement
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On 10 March 2021, it was announced that the closure date for Yallourn
W had been revised from 2032 to 2028 due to low wholesale electricity
prices as well as rising operating costs. A 350 MW battery is set to
be completed by 2026.
Engineering heritage award
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The power station site is listed as an Engineering Heritage National
Landmark by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage
Recognition Program.
Popular culture
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In 1934, Jessie Deakin Brookes wore a costume for the Pageant of
Nations celebrating the centenary of Victoria, created by Thelma
Thomas. It featured three Melbourne buildings, the Murray Darling
river and irrigation system and its headpiece was modelled on the
Yallourn power station transmission tower. It was the inspiration of
the exhibition 'Velvet, Iron, Ashes' at the State Library in Victoria
in 2019-2020.
See also
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* 'The Power Makers', a 1957 short documentary about the power station
* List of power stations in Victoria
* List of coal-fired power stations in Australia
External links
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* [http://www.energyaustralia.com.au EnergyAustralia]
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yallourn_Power_Station