Updated 2.10pm, 20 October 2023
CS Energy has paid an infringement notice for operating Callide C Power Station without being the Registered Participant or obtaining an exemption from registration as required under National Electricity Law (NEL).
CS Energy CEO Darren Busine said CS Energy took its responsibilities under the NEL extremely seriously and had worked cooperatively with the Australian Energy Regulator to resolve the matter.
“Due to an apparent historical oversight, CS Energy did not hold the required exemption from registration as the operator of Callide C,” Mr Busine said.
“We acted promptly to seek the required exemption as soon as the oversight was brought to our attention.
“We are unaware of any impact caused to consumers or other market participants as a consequence of us not holding the relevant exemption.”
The incident that occurred on Callide Unit C4 in May 2021 was unrelated to CS Energy not holding the relevant exemption at the time.
The external, independent investigation into the cause of the Callide Unit C4 incident by Dr Sean Brady is entering its final stages and we are committed to understanding the facts that led to the C4 event so we can learn from it and improve the safety of our people and plant.
As we have stated previously, we are committed to sharing the findings and learnings from the Unit C4 incident with industry to prevent an incident like the C4 event from happening again.
Background
CS Energy owns Callide C in a joint venture (JV) with IG Power and operates Callide C on behalf of the JV.
Callide Power Trading (CPT) is the registered market participant for Callide C and trades the output of the Callide C generating units in the market on behalf of the JV.
Generating units cannot have more than one Registered Participant, and CS Energy (as the operator of Callide C) was required to hold an exemption from registration.