Published Resources Details

Conference Paper

Author
Thornton, Ken; Fetscher, Mark
Title
Liddell power station: Has a good heart - but needs support and prudent asset management at its end of life
In
From the Past to the Future: 18th Australian Engineering Heritage Conference 2015 [Newcastle]
Imprint
Engineers Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 2015, pp. 147-158
ISBN/ISSN
9781922107435
Url
https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.697044952213735
Abstract

Liddell Power Station's four 500 MW generating units were commissioned between May 1971 and November 1973. In the ensuing four decades, Liddell has been a vital component of the New South Wales electricity generating industry.

Liddell is a power station of significant technical firsts. It was the first large major New South Wales (NSW) power station to be located inland, away from abundant salt water supplies traditionally used for cooling purposes. It was the first major NSW station to be fuelled from open-cut mines. At the time of its construction, Liddell's four boilers, each incorporating a single, divided furnace were the highest rated steam generators to be erected in Australia.

Liddell also suffered a number of engineering challenges. Prominent amongst these were the major failures, over an eight month period in 1981, of three of the station's four 500 MW generators, the last two within three days of each other. The loss of such a significant portion of the state's electricity supply resulted in electricity restrictions being imposed on forty-six days between December 1981 and April 1982. These were the first major technology related power restrictions in three decades.

Originally, built for a life of twenty-five years, Liddell has undergone a number of innovative upgrades to take it into the twenty-first century. A Plant Improvement and Life Extension program in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a control system upgrade in 2004, and finally being the first traditional coalfired power station to be integrated with solar thermal technology in 2010.

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