Queensland’s CS Energy has announced the return to service of Callide Power Station’s Unit C4, following the impact of a severe thunderstorm that caused C4 to trip and go offline over the weekend.
Unit C4 came back online at 9.25pm on October 29, after a lightning strike at the nearby Calvale Switchyard brought the unit offline last Sunday.
Related article: CS Energy begins $80 million overhaul of Callide Unit C3
It was the second unit the team brought back online in the space of 24 hours, with Unit B2 returned to service earlier in the day at 12.14am on Wednesday after storm damage to the roof of the turbine hall brought the unit offline for three hours on Tuesday evening.
CS Energy CEO Brian Gillespie thanked the Callide team for successfully returning units B2 and C4 to service while concurrently managing the largest planned overhaul in the station’s history on Unit C3.
“These are huge and complex power stations with many interconnected systems, so it is critical that all relevant safety checks are carried out before they are returned to service,” Gillespie said.
“To everyone at Callide—thank you for your quiet and determined professionalism to safely bring Unit C4 and Unit B2 back online in the middle of our planned overhaul at Unit C3.
The Unit C3 overhaul is one of the largest maintenance projects in the station’s history, with a budget of $80 million backed by the state government’s Electricity Maintenance Guarantee, and an estimated 190,000 hours of work planned.
Related article: “Not good enough”: Callide C3 report reveals inadequacies
The C3 overhaul is scheduled for completion in mid-November so that it is ready for the summer peak demand period.
Callide Power Station is comprised of two power plants, Callide B and C, each with two generating units (B1 and B2, C3 and C4).
