Talk of the Town: Callide C Power Station top investor out, damaged units return to service delayed and ceo resigns

Enjoyed having breakfast under lights at your kitchen table?

Were you using appliances to make that breakfast?

The ongoing situation at Callide C Power station near Biloela should have every electricity user worried.

It may not be in your local area, but it's worth knowing how it could impact you.

Readers would remember back in May 2021, a fire and explosion at the Callide Power Station caused major failure of the Callide C4 unit.

The fire occurred in the Turbine Hall for Callide C4 at the Biloela Power station and subsequently both Callide C units and 1 Callide B unit tripped and came offline.

The incident resulted in widespread power outages across the state, with about 400,000 homes and businesses affected.

Callide C3 is also offline following an incident at its cooling tower in October 2022.

On March 24 CS Energy advised that voluntary administrators had been appointed to a number of Genuity Group entities (formerly known as InterGen Australia), CS Energy's 50/50 Joint Venture Partner for the Callide C Power Station.

CS Energy, owned by the state government, has to pay for a half share of a coal plant, using coal royalties that will ensure the plant is operational for decades.

The state's Energy Minister Mick De Brenni has remained silent on the ongoing situation at Callide C.

It comes at an unfortunate time for the government when renewable energy has been a key feature of press announcements in recent months.

The importance of Callide C Station is significant for a reliable energy supply.

Our peak energy demand in Queensland is 10,000 mega watts and the Callide C station represents the best part of 900MW.

If you don't have reliable power supply, you reduce the supply of energy and a reduction in supply means electricity prices could go up.

Queensland almost ran out of power in February 2022 and because we were going to run out of power.

At the time the state government activated what it calls the reliability in emergency reserve trade contract.

But it cost tax payers more than $50 million for a couple hours.

This information is all publicly available online at the Australian Energy Market Operator at RERTC.

A number of major announcements have taken place recently.

Back in February this year, CS Energy CEO Andrew Bills announced he would be stepping down, following his appointment as chief executive officer of SA Power Networks.

Further to this, on March 8, the Callide C Joint Venture announced a staged return to service of Unit C3 from 30 September 2023 and Unit C4 from 31 October 2023, five months later than originally planned.

If these units don't come back in October, energy operators fear the problem could get much worse.

Our peak demand happens over summer and both units are scheduled for a return in October.

These are just a few concerns being raised at Callide C but there could be more if the supply can't be found.

Nobody wants to have to pay more to use their kettle every morning, especially with the cost of living continuing to rise.

- Talk of the Town is a weekly opinion piece written by ACM journalists. The thoughts expressed are their own.