Country Australia Primary fuel Natural gas Combined cycle? No Owner Hydro Tasmania Units operational 0 | Location Bell Bay, Tasmania Type 2 steam turbines Status Peak demand Decommission date 2009 | |
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Nameplate capacity 345 megawatts (463,000 hp) | ||
The Bell Bay Power Station was decommissioned in 2009. It is located adjacent to, and is often confused with, the Tamar Valley Power Station, in Bell Bay, on the Tamar River, Tasmania, Australia. At the time of decommissioning, it had two 120 megawatts (160,000 hp) gas fired steam turbines and three 35 megawatts (47,000 hp) gas turbines, giving a total capacity of 345 megawatts (463,000 hp) of electricity.
Contents
Establishment
In response to a prolonged dry period in Tasmania in 1967 and 1968, the then Hydro-Electric Commission sought to diversify Tasmania's electricity supply away from hydro-electricity. This resulted in the first unit of the Bell Bay Power Station being commissioned in 1971: a single 120 megawatts (160,000 hp) oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox, single drum, reheat boiler, supplying steam to an NEI Parsons steam turbine with hydrogen cooled generator (unit one). In 1974, a second near identical unit followed (unit two). Cooling water was via a once-through cooling system, drawing water directly from the Tamar River. Three 15,000 tonnes (17,000 tons) capacity fuel oil tanks supplied the 600 tonnes (660 tons) of fuel oil per day required to run each of the steam sets. Fuel oil was delivered by tank ship and discharged across a dedicated oil jetty at the site. The 110-metre (360 ft) tall stack is a distinctive feature in the area.
As the power station's primary role was to provide system security in the event of drought for Tasmania's predominantly hydro-electric based generation system it only was rarely called on to operate, resulting in intervals of five to eight years between periods of significant use.
Conversion to natural gas
In 2003, unit one was converted from fuel oil to natural gas when a pipeline from Victoria to Tasmania was established. This was followed in 2004 by conversion of unit two.
Expansion
In 2006, three Pratt & Whitney FT8 Twin Pac open cycle gas turbine units were acquired from an existing facility in the US. These open cycle units were installed at a site adjacent to the original Bell Bay Power Station. Although the Bell Bay Power Station was decommissioned in 2009, these three peaking units now form part of the Tamar Valley Power Station.
Ownership
Bell Bay Power Station is owned by Hydro Tasmania via wholly owned subsidiary companies.
In March 2007, Western Australian power company Alinta agreed to buy the peaking plant site from Hydro Tasmania (i.e. the Tasmanian Government) for about $75 million, which included gas pipeline capacity agreements. This would complement their (then) proposed 200 MW combined cycle Tamar Valley Power Station, which was due for completion in early 2009, and which was to be located somewhere in the Bell Bay precinct.
Aurora Energy acquired the ex Alinta Energy combined cycle power station project and the peaking plant from the then new owner, Babcock and Brown Power in September 2008. The Tasmanian Government included a possible transfer of the existing Bell Bay Power Station to Aurora Energy as part of the acquisition. The transfer of the existing two thermal units did not proceed. Hydro Tasmania remains the owner and the station is currently available for sale whole or as parts.