Anglesea Power Station, Victoria (Australia)
Encyclopedia
Anglesea Power Station is located at Anglesea
, in Victoria
, Australia
within the floristically rich
Anglesea Heath
area. It is brown coal powered with one steam turbine
with a capacity of 150MW of electricity
, supplying almost 40% of the electricity used by the nearby Point Henry
aluminium
smelter, operated by Alcoa of Australia. The power station was brought online on 20 March 1969, and is supplied with coal by the adjacent open cut mine
, transported to the power station along a 3 kilometre long private road. Overburden is stripped and backfilled into the mined area by earthmoving contractors using conventional power shovels and trucks.
From 1955 test bores for coal were made at Anglesea by the Roche Brothers, who were then operating a mine at nearby Wensleydale
where the coal reserves were dwindling. An extensive coal deposit was found two kilometres to the north of the Anglesea township, with mining commencing in 1959 to supply brown coal to industry and institutions in the Geelong area. The mining rights were taken over by Western Mining Corporation
(WMC) in 1961 to supply the power station planned by Alcoa of Australia. The Mines (Aluminum Agreement) Act of 1961 granted Alcoa a 50 year exclusive right to explore and mine over some 7,350 hectares of leasehold land in the region. After further drilling investigation WMC relocated the mining operation to the east of the original mine, closer to the power station site and providing access to a larger coal reserve of 50 million tons. The total thickness of the coal seams is about 140 metres, with total economic mineable reserves estimated at 70 million tons in the upper seam, and a further 90 million tons in lower seams. In 1992 the overburden to coal ratio averaged around 2.5 to 1, with an average coal thickness of 27 metres.
As of 2005 approximately 35 million tonnes of coal had been mined, with about 1.1 million tonnes of brown coal mined annually to feed a boiler that consumes 144 tonnes of pulverised brown coal an hour. The coal at Anglesea has a high quality heat value when compared to other brown coals used to produce electricity in Victoria, but has a much higher level of sulphur of around 3%, resulting in high levels of sulfur dioxide
(SO2) emissions. Carbon Monitoring for Action
estimates this power station emits 1.21 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal
. Anglesea draws its cooling water from six sub-artesian
well bores
, supplemented with rainwater.
Anglesea, Victoria
Anglesea is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Great Ocean Road in the Surf Coast Shire local government area. At the 2006 census, Anglesea had a population of 2,290....
, in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 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...
within the floristically rich
Floristics
Floristics is a subdomain of botany and biogeography that studies distribution and relationships of plant species over geographic areas.The term is not to be confused with floristry....
Anglesea Heath
Anglesea Heath
Anglesea Heath is a 72 km2 area of natural heath, woodland and forest in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. It is about 100 km south-west of Melbourne, just north of the coastal town of Anglesea and accessible from the Great Ocean Road...
area. It is brown coal powered with one steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
with a capacity of 150MW of electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, supplying almost 40% of the electricity used by the nearby 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...
aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
smelter, operated by Alcoa of Australia. The power station was brought online on 20 March 1969, and is supplied with coal by the adjacent open cut mine
Surface mining
Surface mining , is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed...
, transported to the power station along a 3 kilometre long private road. Overburden is stripped and backfilled into the mined area by earthmoving contractors using conventional power shovels and trucks.
From 1955 test bores for coal were made at Anglesea by the Roche Brothers, who were then operating a mine at nearby Wensleydale
Wensleydale, Victoria
-History:Wordieboluc Post Office opened on 15 March 1866 and was replaced by the Wensleydale office in 1872. It closed in 1955....
where the coal reserves were dwindling. An extensive coal deposit was found two kilometres to the north of the Anglesea township, with mining commencing in 1959 to supply brown coal to industry and institutions in the Geelong area. The mining rights were taken over by Western Mining Corporation
WMC Resources
WMC Resources Limited was an Australian diversified mining and fertilizer company formerly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. WMC was an acronym for Western Mining Corporation. It was delisted on 29 June 2005 following a successful takeover by BHP Billiton...
(WMC) in 1961 to supply the power station planned by Alcoa of Australia. The Mines (Aluminum Agreement) Act of 1961 granted Alcoa a 50 year exclusive right to explore and mine over some 7,350 hectares of leasehold land in the region. After further drilling investigation WMC relocated the mining operation to the east of the original mine, closer to the power station site and providing access to a larger coal reserve of 50 million tons. The total thickness of the coal seams is about 140 metres, with total economic mineable reserves estimated at 70 million tons in the upper seam, and a further 90 million tons in lower seams. In 1992 the overburden to coal ratio averaged around 2.5 to 1, with an average coal thickness of 27 metres.
As of 2005 approximately 35 million tonnes of coal had been mined, with about 1.1 million tonnes of brown coal mined annually to feed a boiler that consumes 144 tonnes of pulverised brown coal an hour. The coal at Anglesea has a high quality heat value when compared to other brown coals used to produce electricity in Victoria, but has a much higher level of sulphur of around 3%, resulting in high levels of sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
(SO2) emissions. 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 1.21 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...
. Anglesea draws its cooling water from six sub-artesian
Artesian aquifer
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. This causes the water level in a well to rise to a point where hydrostatic equilibrium has been reached. This type of well is called an artesian well...
well bores
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
, supplemented with rainwater.