Liddell Power Station

Liddell Power Station
Country	Australia
Location	New South Wales
Coordinates	32°37′39″S 150°9′7″E
Status	Baseload
Commission date	1971-1973
Owner(s)	Macquarie Generation
Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Generation units	4
Combined cycle?	No
Power generation information
Maximum capacity	2,000 MW

Liddell Power Station is a coal powered power station with four 500 MW GEC (UK) steam driven turbo alternators for a combined capacity of 2,000 MW. The station is located at Lake Liddell near Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia and is owned and operated by Macquarie Generation, a company owned by the New South Wales Government.

History

The first generator was completed in 1971, two more in 1972, and the fourth in 1973. At the time of its completion, Liddell was the most powerful generating station in Australia.

Originally fitted with the then-standard electrostatic precipitators for dust collection, the more efficient Fabric Filters (as used at Eraring, Munmorah units 3 and 4, Bayswater and Mount Piper) were retrofitted in the early 1990s, reducing emissions to a barely visible level.

Much of the coal is supplied by overland conveyors from mines it shares with the nearby Bayswater Power Station.

Liddell was the first major power station in NSW to be built inland, using fresh water for cooling instead of the more abundant salt water used in coastal power stations. To accommodate this, Lake Liddell was expanded to provide more water.

Alternative fuel sources

In addition to the coal power station, Liddell runs two 25 MW oil-fired gas turbines and a 0.85 MW mini-hydroelectric generator. It is also "licensed to co-fire plant biomass and coal to produce electricity", which essentially means it can use sawdust and wood shavings from the nearby timber industry as a portion of its fuel, replacing up to 5% of its coal requirements. In practice, however, biomass accounts for only about 0.5% of Liddell's output.

A project is underway at Liddell to replace some of the station's boiler feed-water by hot water from a solar thermal array. As of March 2007, the project was at a second-stage prototype but had not been connected to the power station.

Greenhouse emissions

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 14.70 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. It is expected to impact on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but, as at 23 November 2008, not CO₂.

External links

• Macquarie Generation page on Liddell
• Proposed 38 MW solar thermal "coal saver" plant at Liddell
• Solar thermal plant at the Liddell Power Station gets government support