November 17, 2022
Stanwell Corporation’s first community update since the start of the pandemic attracted a large crowd of guests to Tarong North power station recently.
It was an opportunity for local residents and representatives from community groups to find out what’s been happening at the power stations and nearby Meandu Mine.
They were told the corporation was pivoting towards renewables, with the recent announcement of the Tarong West wind farm and the development of the Wambo wind farm.
It was also “in the box seat” when it came to establishing a hydrogen industry in Australia, with a lot of activities occurring in the Gladstone region.
The guests were told the Tarong and Tarong North power stations have a “technical” life of 2037 but Stanwell was not opposed to other options, including repurposing the assets.
In 2024, the four units at Tarong Power Station (TPS) will have been operating for 40 years.
Tarong North is much younger, having opened in 2003.
Other news from the update:
- The recent $32 million overhaul of Unit 3 at TPS took longer than expected but will now be able to operate safely and reliably for another five years. It is due to come back online on November 30, just in time for summer.
- At the peak, there were 560 people involved in the Unit 3 overhaul.
- The ash dam at the power stations is being “dewatered” in anticipation of possible heavy rain over summer.
- Stanwell’s new energy projects also include the development of battery storage in a former laydown area on site at Tarong.
Guests also had the opportunity to meet the new general manager at Meandu Mine, Andrew Toms, who at that stage had been in the job for just seven weeks.
Office space in the Tarong North administration building was divided into separate booths so guests could chat to Stanwell staff about various projects, including site regeneration and the battery plan.
Powerlink representatives were also explaining details about the proposed transmission line link from the Borumba Dam pumped hydro project to Tarong.
