Country Australia Status Baseload Owner AGL Energy | Location New South Wales Commission date 1971-1973 Units operational Four | |
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Type Steam turbine thermal coal Cogeneration? • Two 25 megawatts (34,000 hp) oil-fired gas turbines;
• One 0.85 megawatts (1,140 hp) mini-hydroelectric generator Address Muswellbrook NSW 2333, Australia Similar Bayswater Power Station, Lake Liddell, Redbank Power Station, Black Bulga State Conserva, The Glen Nature Reserve | ||
Liddell power station
Liddell Power Station is a coal-powered thermal power station with four 500 megawatts (670,000 hp) GEC (UK) steam driven turbo alternators for a combined capacity of 2,000 megawatts (2,700,000 hp). Commissioned between 1971 and 1973, the station is located at Lake Liddell near Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Region, New South Wales, Australia.
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Prior to September 2014 Liddell power station was part of NSW Government power producer, Macquarie Generation. Macquarie Generation was acquired by AGL Energy in September 2014.
History
The first generator was completed in 1971, two more in 1972, and the fourth in 1973. At the time of its completion, Liddell was the most powerful generating station in Australia. The completion of Liddell aided in the retirement of earlier power stations in Sydney, such as Bunnerong.
Originally fitted with the then-standard electrostatic precipitators for dust collection, the more efficient Fabric Filters (as used at Eraring, Munmorah units 3 and 4,Vales 5+6, Bayswater and Mount Piper) were retrofitted in the early 1990s, reducing particulate emissions to a barely visible level.
Much of the coal is supplied by overland conveyors from mines it shares with the nearby Bayswater Power Station.
Liddell was the first major power station in NSW to be built inland, using fresh water for cooling instead of the more abundant salt water used in coastal power stations. To accommodate this, Lake Liddell was expanded to provide more water.
Greenhouse emissions
Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 14.70 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. In 2010 the Australian Government introduced a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to help combat climate change. The scheme has impacted on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of a range of pollutant emissions, including CO, estimated at 1,000,000 kilograms (2,200,000 lb) for the year ending 30 June 2011.