Loy Yang Power Station, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Loy Yang Power Station is a brown coal fired power station located on the outskirts of the city of Traralgon
, in south eastern Victoria, Australia
. Loy Yang is a base load supply station
, and produces about one third of Victoria's electricity requirements. Loy Yang A has four generating units with a combined capacity of 2,200 megawatts and is owned by GEAC, a consortium made up of AGL
Limited, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Transfield Services
and three superannuation funds. Loy Yang B has two units with a capacity of 1,050 megawatts is Victoria's newest and most efficient power station generating around 17% of Victoria's energy needs. It is owned by UK group International Power
.
Loy Yang B employs up to 152 full time staff and another 40 contractors.
, who was contracted by the government owned State Electricity Commission of Victoria
(SECV). It consists of two separate units, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B. Constructed in stages, it was originally planned that the Loy Yang complex would consist of eight generating units, of 525 Megawatts each upon completion. The privatisation of the SECV resulted in only six generating units being completed, four in Loy Yang A and two in Loy Yang B. The Loy Yang complex was privatised in 1995, as were most of the assets of the SECV. Prior to the Victorian State Government's privatisations from the mid-1990s, a 49% stake was sold to Mission Energy. Later Edison Mission bought the complete plant, and later again sold it to the joint venture International Power Mitsui.
In 1995, Loy Yang B was the world's first coal-fired power station to gain quality accreditation to ISO 9001 and the first Australian power station to gain environmental accreditation to ISO 14001.
Four giant bucket-wheel excavator
s, called dredgers, operate 24 hours a day in the Loy Yang open cut mine
, mostly feeding coal directly to the boilers via conveyor belt, 18 hours of reserve supply is held in a 70,000 tonne coal bunker. Each year approximately 30 million tonnes of coal are extracted from the open pit. The open cut coal mine pit is about 200 m (656.2 ft) deep, 3 km (1.9 mi) and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide at its widest. It is estimated that at current rates of extraction there are sufficient deposits of coal in the entire Latrobe Valley region to last 1300 years.
Carbon Monitoring for Action
estimates this power station emits 14.40 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal
. On 3 September 2007 the Loy Yang complex was the target of climate change
activists. The activists locked themselves to conveyor belts and reduced power production for several hours before being cut free. Four people were arrested.
In March 2010 it was announced that the operators of Loy Yang A (Loy Yang Power) signed a contract with Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
Australia for the supply of electricity to power aluminium smelters at Portland
and Point Henry
until 2036.
Traralgon, Victoria
Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon is a city within the City of Latrobe....
, in south eastern Victoria, 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...
. Loy Yang is a base load supply station
Base load power plant
Baseload is the minimum amount of power that a utility or distribution company must make available to its customers, or the amount of power required to meet minimum demands based on reasonable expectations of customer requirements...
, and produces about one third of Victoria's electricity requirements. Loy Yang A has four generating units with a combined capacity of 2,200 megawatts and is owned by GEAC, a consortium made up of AGL
Australian Gas Light Company
The Australian Gas Light Company was an Australian gas and electricity retailer. It was formed in Sydney in 1837, and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841 AGL was the second company to list on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company gradually...
Limited, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Transfield Services
Transfield Services
Transfield Services Limited is an Australian publicly listed corporation providing operations and maintenance, asset management, project and capital management outsourcing and infrastructure development services to the resources and industrial, infrastructure services and property and facilities...
and three superannuation funds. Loy Yang B has two units with a capacity of 1,050 megawatts is Victoria's newest and most efficient power station generating around 17% of Victoria's energy needs. It is owned by UK group International Power
International Power
International Power PLC is an international electricity generator formed in 2000 by the demerger of National Power. It is headquartered at Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London...
.
Loy Yang B employs up to 152 full time staff and another 40 contractors.
History
Loy Yang was originally constructed through the 1980s by International Combustion Australia LtdInternational Combustion
International Combustion Limited was a major manufacturing business based in Derby offering products for the nuclear engineering industry. International Combustion Australia Limited was a separate non-affiliated company.-History:...
, who was contracted by the government owned State Electricity Commission of Victoria
State Electricity Commission of Victoria
The State Electricity Commission of Victoria was a monopoly electricity generation, transmission and supply utility located in Victoria, Australia...
(SECV). It consists of two separate units, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B. Constructed in stages, it was originally planned that the Loy Yang complex would consist of eight generating units, of 525 Megawatts each upon completion. The privatisation of the SECV resulted in only six generating units being completed, four in Loy Yang A and two in Loy Yang B. The Loy Yang complex was privatised in 1995, as were most of the assets of the SECV. Prior to the Victorian State Government's privatisations from the mid-1990s, a 49% stake was sold to Mission Energy. Later Edison Mission bought the complete plant, and later again sold it to the joint venture International Power Mitsui.
In 1995, Loy Yang B was the world's first coal-fired power station to gain quality accreditation to ISO 9001 and the first Australian power station to gain environmental accreditation to ISO 14001.
Four giant bucket-wheel excavator
Bucket-wheel excavator
Bucket-wheel excavators are heavy equipment used in surface mining and mechanical engineering/civil engineering. The primary function of BWEs is to act as a continuous digging machine in large-scale open pit mining operations...
s, called dredgers, operate 24 hours a day in the Loy Yang open cut mine
Surface mining
Surface mining , is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed...
, mostly feeding coal directly to the boilers via conveyor belt, 18 hours of reserve supply is held in a 70,000 tonne coal bunker. Each year approximately 30 million tonnes of coal are extracted from the open pit. The open cut coal mine pit is about 200 m (656.2 ft) deep, 3 km (1.9 mi) and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide at its widest. It is estimated that at current rates of extraction there are sufficient deposits of coal in the entire Latrobe Valley region to last 1300 years.
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 14.40 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...
. On 3 September 2007 the Loy Yang complex was the target of 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...
activists. The activists locked themselves to conveyor belts and reduced power production for several hours before being cut free. Four people were arrested.
In March 2010 it was announced that the operators of Loy Yang A (Loy Yang Power) signed a contract with Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals is a joint venture between Alumina Limited and Alcoa and is abbreviated to AWAC. AWAC's business is the mining of bauxite, the extraction of alumina and the smelting of aluminium. It has about 25% of the global alumina market...
Australia for the supply of electricity to power aluminium smelters at Portland
Portland aluminium smelter
The Portland aluminium smelter is located atPortland, Victoria, Australia.The smelter has a production capacity of 345,000 tonnes of aluminium per yearThe smelter is a joint venture owned by...
and Point Henry
Point Henry smelter
The Point Henry aluminium smelter is located near Geelong, Victoria in the suburb of Moolap. The smelter has a production capacity of 185,000 tonnes of aluminium a year. It is operated by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals Australia, a joint venture between Alcoa and Alumina Limited...
until 2036.