Newport Power Station, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
s in the suburb of Newport
Newport, Victoria
Newport is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Newport had a population of 11,244.-History:...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, 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...
. Newport A, B, and C coal-fired plants operated at the site between 1918 and the 1970s, while the Newport D 500 MW gas-fired peak load plant has operated since 1981.
Newport A, B, and C
Newport 'A' was established as a coal-fired power station by the Victorian RailwaysVictorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...
in 1918 to supply energy for the electrification of the suburban rail system
Railways in Melbourne
The Melbourne rail network is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne under franchise from the Government of Victoria. The network is based on a commuter rail model centred on the Melbourne Central Business District and Flinders Street Station, rather than a rapid transit model, with a focus on...
by the Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...
. The plant also supplied bulk electricity to the Melbourne City Council Electric Supply Department, the Melbourne Electric Supply Company, and the 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...
. The plant was transferred to the SECV in 1951, when the total capacity was 95.5 MW.
The SECV opened their Newport 'B' station in 1923 to supply electricity to Melbourne until the Yallourn power station
Yallourn Power Station, Victoria
Yallourn Power Station was a complex of six brown coal fuelled power stations built progressively from the 1920s to the 1960s. Located in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, the complex was situated beside the Latrobe River, with the company town of Yallourn located to the south west...
entered service. Of 90 MW capacity, the plant was originally operated by the Victorian Railways, but control was transferred to the SECV in 1939. In 1950 the Newport 'C' station of 120 MW capacity was opened by the SECV after wartime delays. The power station boilers were originally fuelled by imported New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
black coal, but were converted to burn brown coal briquette
Briquette
A briquette is a block of flammable matter used as fuel to start and maintain a fire. Common types of briquettes are charcoal briquettes and biomass briquettes.-Constituents of charcoal briquettes:...
s in the 1950s. Use of the plants declined with the opening of newer power stations in Latrobe Valley
Latrobe Valley
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical region and urban area of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is east of the City Of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the north – with the highest peak to the north of the...
, being used for peak loads in later years.
Newport D
Newport 'D' is the current power station on the site. Originally proposed by the State Electricity Commission as a pair of 500 MW generation units in the 1971, trade union, local resident and environmentalEnvironmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
protests delayed construction of the plant. A stalemate ensued, with the Victorian State Government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
and the Victorian Trades Hall Council
Victorian Trades Hall Council
The Victorian Trades Hall Council is a representative body of trade union organisations, known as a Labour council, in the State of Victoria, Australia...
permitting an independent 'Newport Review Panel' to be set up in December 1976 to examine the power station proposals. Both parties agreed that the decision of the panel would be final.
In April 1977 the final decision was made by the panel, that the power station at Newport would proceed but with only one 500 MW generator unit, as a result the gas turbine operated Jeeralang Power Station was opened in the Latrobe Valley. The power station is used for meeting peak loads to the electricity grid. Since the privatisation of the Victorian electricity system in the 1990s, the power station has been operated by Ecogen Energy
Ecogen Energy
Ecogen Energy is a power station operator in Victoria, Australia. It operates two peaking power plants: the natural gas fired Newport Power Station and the gas turbine Jeeralang Power Station....
, until purchased by Babcock & Brown Power in 2006, who sold out to co-shareholder Industry Funds Management in 2008.
Newport D was built for the SECV by International Combustion Australia Limited, Rydalmere, NSW.
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 0.49 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a proposed cap-and-trade system of emissions trading for anthropogenic greenhouse gases, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia...
commencing in 2012 to help combat 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...
. It is expected to impact on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but, as at 23 November 2008, not CO2.