CS Energy CEO Andrew Bills said safety is the highest priority as it manages urgent repairs to multiple units at Callide Power Station.
“I acknowledge that our plant reliability at present is not good enough,” Mr Bills said. “I have been at Callide Power Station this week talking with our people and unions to address their concerns.
“Our immediate focus is to work methodically and safely to restore these units to service as quickly as possible.
“The unavailability of our generating units is the result of a number of concurrent yet distinct issues.”
Callide Power Station is comprised of two power plants, Callide B and C, each with two generating units (B1 and B2, C3 and C4).
Unit B1 came offline early this morning due to a feed pump vibration and was returned to service mid this morning at low load and we are monitoring its performance.
Unit B2 came offline on 1 November during scheduled testing of the unit, which is required every four years. Cabling in the unit’s bottom ash conveying system was damaged and this was detected by the unit’s automated control system and the team on site, who acted quickly to make the unit safe.
No one was injured when B2 came offline and an investigation into the incident will be completed. The return to service date for B2 has changed to 4 November to 9 November as additional cables need to be replaced before the unit can be safely returned to service.
CS Energy owns Callide C in a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with InterGen Australia.
The JV advised the market yesterday that Unit C3’s return to service date has changed from 21 November 2022 to 3 January 2023. This follows the structural failure of part of its cooling plant earlier this week.
The decision by the JV owners to change the return for Unit C3 is based on advice from external experts and on-site assessments, which have provided an improved understanding of the condition of the cooling plant, the scope of repairs required and the time required to procure replacement materials.
Recovery works on Unit C4 are continuing following the incident in May 2021 and it is expected to return to service in April 2023.
These return to service dates are based on the information available at this point in time and may be subject to further change. It not unusual for generators to adjust their return to service dates for units that are undergoing major maintenance or repairs, depending on issues identified during the process.