Bayswater Power Station, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Muswellbrook, New South Wales
Muswellbrook, a corruption of 'Muscle Brook', is a town and Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia. The original spelling and etymology of the town's name is a matter of some debate...
, and 28 km (17 mi) from Singleton
Singleton, New South Wales
-Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....
in the Hunter Region of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Bayswater shares the title of being Australia's largest power station with Eraring Power Station. It is coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
powered with four steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
driven turbo alternators with a combined generating capacity of 2,640MW (4 x 660MW). Much of the coal is supplied by overland conveyors from mines it shares with the nearby Liddell Power Station.
Bayswater draws its cooling water from the Hunter River under water entitlements negotiated with the government of New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
. The Barnard River Scheme
Barnard River Scheme
The Barnard River Scheme is an inter-basin water transfer system in New South Wales, which can transfer water from the Barnard River in the upper Manning River catchment over the Mount Royal Range into the Hunter River....
also allows Bayswater and Liddell to transfer water from the upper Manning River
Manning River
The Manning River is a river in the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia that flows through the Manning Valley. It is one of Australia's few large river systems not to be dammed for water supply purposes anywhere along its catchment...
catchment into the Hunter River for their use.
The four generating units were completed progressively over 1985 and 1986.
Coal Consumption is around 8Mtpa and produces around 17,000 GWhs of electricity a year. This is enough power for 2 million average Australian homes and families.
Carbon Monitoring for Action
Carbon Monitoring for Action
Carbon Monitoring For Action is a website that contains a searchable database that estimates the carbon emissions of power plants and power companies around the world. Launched in November, 2007, its database is updated quarterly. It is produced and financed by the Center for Global Development....
estimates this power station emits 19.80 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a proposed cap-and-trade system of emissions trading for anthropogenic greenhouse gases, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia...
commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. 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
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
.
In 2009, the power station was the subject of what the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
described as "the first ever legal action aimed at curbing greenhouse gas pollution from a coal-fired power station". Environmental activist Pete Gray
Pete Gray (activist)
Peter Robert Gray was an Australian environmental activist, notable for two "landmark" court cases, and for having thrown his shoes in public at former Prime Minister of Australia John Howard in protest over Australia's participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.He was described in an obituary in...
went to the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales
Land and Environment Court of New South Wales
The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales is a Court established by legislation giving it exclusive jurisdiction to determine environmental, development, building and planning disputes...
, asking it to find that the power station had been "wilfully or negligently
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
disposing of waste [...] by emitting carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
into the atmosphere in a manner that has harmed or is likely to harm the environment in contravention of section 115(1) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997", and sought an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against the station. The case, Gray and Anor v Macquarie Generation, was ongoing at the time of Gray's death from cancer in April 2011.
Boilers
- Steam Pressure 16,550 kPa
- Steam Temperature 540 degrees
- Height 80 metres
Turbo Alternators
- Number in use: 4
- Manufacturer: Tokyo Shibaura Electric Company, (Toshiba) Limited, Japan.
- Operating Speed 3,000 rpm
- Alternator voltage 23kV
- Rating: 660 000 kVA (660 MW)
- Length 50 metres
- Weight 1.342 kT
Turbine House
- Length 510 metres
- Height 38 metres
- Width 40 metres
Emission Stacks
- Height 248 metres
- Diameter at base 23 metres
- Diameter at top 12 metres
Cooling Towers
- Height 132 metres
- Diameter at base 100 metres
- Diameter at top 52 metres
External links
- Macquarie Generation page on Bayswater
- http://peter.neal.id.au/blog/10/webguide-1-nsw-power-stations
- http://www.phoenix-inst.com.au - emission monitoring equipment