Northern Power Station (South Australia)

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This article is about the power station in South Australia. For the power station in Sri Lanka, see Northern Power Station (Sri Lanka).
Northern Power Station
Northern Power Station (South Australia) is located in South Australia
Northern Power Station (South Australia)
Location of Northern Power Station in South Australia
Country Australia
Location Port Augusta, South Australia
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Commission date 1985
Operator(s) Alinta Energy
Thermal power station
Primary fuel coal
Power generation
Units operational 2
Website
alintaenergy.com.au/assets/generation/flinders/

Northern Power Station is located in Port Augusta, South Australia. It is coal powered with two 260 MW steam turbines that generate a total of 520 MW of electricity. It is operated and maintained by Alinta Energy and was commissioned in 1985.[1] Northern receives coal by rail from the Leigh Creek Coal Mine, 280 km to the north. In October 2015 Alinta announced that Northern would cease operations around 31 March 2016.

Emissions

Air

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 3.62 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal.[2] Other air-borne emissions are reported annually to the National Pollution Inventory. As of 2012-13, from greatest to smallest, emissions include: sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrochloric acid, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, manganese, mercury, chromium, boron, chlorine, zinc, nickel, copper, lead and others.[3]

Marine

Northern Power Station draws cooling water from Upper Spencer Gulf and returns it to the sea at an elevated temperature. The water is returned 7 °C warmer than the original intake water. The flow rate is 47 m³ per second.[4] Its outfall channel is intended to be used by Sundrop Farms to disperse desalination brine from a proposed seawater desalination plant to be constructed in 2015.

Additional marine emissions include (from largest to smallest): boron, fluoride, arsenic, manganese, chromium, nickel and mercury.[3]

Closure and alternative uses

Despite being the lowest marginal cost fossil fuel generator in South Australia,[5] Northern's economic viability was progressively eroded as wind and solar generation increased in South Australia. During the operation of carbon pricing in Australia under the Clean Energy Act, Northern reduced operation to seasonal summer-only operation.[6]

In recent years its long-term future remained has been subject to much consideration, including life extension and complete replacement. In 2013, Alinta Energy announced that it was investigating developing a new low-grade coal deposit which could extend the working lives of both Northern and adjacent Playford B power stations until the year 2030.[7] Concept level proposals have been discussed for the replacement of the plant with either a gas-fired, a concentrated solar thermal plant[8] or a nuclear power plant.

On 11 June 2015, Alinta Energy announced its intent to permanently close the power station by March 2018, along with the related Playford B Power Station, and the Leigh Creek coal mine that supplies them both with fuel.[9] This was updated on 30 July 2015 to bring the closure dates of all three facilities forward by 12 months, with closure to occur between March 2016 and March 2017.[10]

On 7 October 2015, Alinta Energy announced that Northern and Playford B would close around 31 March 2016.[11]

See also

References

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External links

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