<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/flogging-a-dead-horse-coal-plant-explosion-report-details-unresolved-issues-concurrent-failures/>
"Queensland government plans to extend the life of the coal-fired Callide Power
Station are under renewed attack, after a new report detailed a laundry list of
“long-standing unresolved issues” that contributed to a serious explosion at
the aged and troubled plant.
State-owned utility CS Energy on Thursday released a report into the “major
operational safety event” that struck Unit C3 at the jointly owned Callide C
Power Station on April 04, 2025, taking it out of action until June.
The report confirms that the Callide Unit C3 experienced a significant boiler
pressure event after a larger-than-usual clinker (piece of hardened ash) fell
into the furnace ash system. This event disrupted flame stability, resulting in
a delayed unit trip and subsequent re-ignition.
“While no injuries were reported,” it says, “the incident caused notable
equipment damage and necessitated an extended outage of approximately two
months. The nature of the event carried the potential for serious harm.”
And it’s not the first time. Callide C – whose two units are 50/50 owned by CS
Energy and IG Power and operated by CS Energy – is the same facility that
suffered a catastrophic explosion in May 2021, that took the C4 units offline
for more than three years, until August 2024.
This time around, however, the Callide C explosion came just days before the
Queensland LNP government announced it would extend the life of the two ageing
Callide B coal units – fully owned by CS Energy – from 2028 to either 2030 or
2031.
This idea was slammed by the industry and green groups at the time – even
before the explosion was public knowledge – coming as it did as part of a
broader plan from the Crisfaulli government to hit the brakes on Queensland’s
shift to renewables.
But the Queensland Conservation Council says plans to “pump hundreds of
millions of taxpayer dollars” into keeping old coal plants on life support
looks less sensible than ever following the findings of this week’s CS Energy
report.
“You can’t flog a dead horse,” QCC campaigner Stephanie Gray said on Thursday.
“Queensland’s coal power stations were offline a staggering 78 times over the
last summer period because they’re old and keep breaking down.
“If the Crisafulli government keeps pushing these coal clunkers past their
scheduled end of life we’re going to see more breakdowns, more outages, and
more price spikes for Queensland consumers.
“The practical thing for Queensland’s Energy Minister, David Janetzki, to do
now is plan for the replacement of Queensland’s ageing coal power stations with
renewable energy backed by storage.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
