CS Energy, as operator of the Callide C Power Station, has appointed two external engineering experts to investigate the root cause of the incident on the Unit C3 cooling tower at Callide Power Station last week.
CS Energy CEO Andrew Bills said it had appointed Breezewater Pty Ltd structural engineer Graeme Spencer, who has worked on other cooling tower failure investigations, and engineering firm HartzEPM last Friday (4 Nov).
“These external engineers are leaders in their field and will help us understand what went wrong on the Unit C3 cooling tower and what needs to be done so that this does not happen again,” Mr Bills said.
“Safety is our highest priority at CS Energy and we will do everything we can to support these external, independent experts in carrying out their work.”
This investigation is separate to the Queensland Workplace Health and Safety investigation that is also currently underway.
Investment in the Callide C cooling towers is part of a multi-year refurbishment. As part of this refurbishment, a maintenance program informed by engineers and the equipment manufacturer, has been adhered to.
Callide Power Station has a permanent workforce of 226 people and is comprised of two power plants, Callide B and C, each with two generating units (B1 and B2, C3 and C4).
CS Energy owns 100 per cent of Callide B and owns Callide C in a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with InterGen Australia. CS Energy operates Callide C on behalf of the JV owners.
The current status of Callide Power Station’s generating units is as follows:
- Unit B1 is online.
- Unit B2 is offline for repairs to cabling and is forecast to return to service on 9 November.
- The Callide C JV has advised the market that Unit C3’s forecast return to service date is 3 January 2023.
- 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.