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Friday, 26 March 2010Incident at Tamar Valley Power Station
Aurora Energy Tamar Valley Power (AETV Power) today confirmed that a fire was contained in one of the electricity generation units at the Tamar Valley Power Station following a test procedure yesterday afternoon.
No one was injured in the fire, which was extinguished by an automated fire suppression system and the work of the George Town Fire Brigade.
The fire was wholly contained in the turbine area of the 58MW Rolls Royce Trent unit. The rest of the power station’s generating units were unaffected by the fire, including the 203MW Mitsubishi combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), which provides base load power into the grid. Total generating capacity of the plant is 380MW.
The fire will be investigated by AETV Power and an independent expert team. Workplace Standards has also been advised of the incident.
The affected turbine will be out of commission while the investigation occurs and the damage is assessed.
AETVP Power Chief Executive Officer Mike Brewster said the fire would not affect power supply in Tasmania.
“I can reassure Tasmanians that the fire will not affect power supply within the State as there is sufficient spare generation capacity,’’ Mr Brewster said.
“The affected turbine is primarily a back-up plant, which means that it is turned on and off to either meet peak demand in power load or operate in the event of the CCGT being closed down.
“This event occurred during a test procedure and there will be a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the event and the extent of the damage.’’
Mr Brewster said no estimate would be provided on the cost or extent of the damage or the duration of the unit’s outage until the investigation has concluded. This may take some weeks.
AETV Power CEO Mike Brewster will be available to speak about the incident in the foyer of Aurora Energy’s corporate headquarters, 21 Kirksway Place Hobart at 11am.
Please note, news media representatives are not permitted onto the AETV Power Station site.
Released by Aurora Public Relations, 6237 3341
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