Callide C Cooling Towers Rebuild

The Callide C Cooling Towers Rebuild Project was a major project completed in 2024 to enable the safe return to service of Callide C's two generating units.

CS Energy (through our subsidiary Callide Energy Ltd) owns Callide C in a joint venture (JV) with IG Power (Callide) Ltd. CS Energy operates Callide C on behalf of the JV.

Following the partial collapse of the Unit C3 cooling tower in late 2022, CS Energy commissioned independent engineering experts to inspect both the C3 and C4 cooling towers (as both towers were of the same design and age). Based on this advice, the decision was made to rebuild both cooling towers.  

The original wooden towers were replaced with fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) structures.

The rebuild of the cooling towers was a unique and highly complex project. Each tower is 200 metres long, almost six storeys high and nearly half an Olympic pool wide. 

CS Energy worked with specialist contractor IWC Australasia with UGL as their major subcontractor. Arnolds delivered the electrical work, DB Schenker managed the delivery of materials and Demex demolished the original cooling towers.

Construction of the new C3 cooling tower began in the second half of 2023 and the unit was returned to service in April 2024. The new Unit C4 cooling tower was completed several months later and Unit C4 was returned to service on 30 August 2024. 

Image: Approximately 300 people worked on the cooling towers rebuild project.