The Mintia-Deva Coal Power Plant is Romania's third largest thermal power plant having 5 identical groups of 210 MW each and one of 235 MW thus totalling a capacity of 1285 MW^[1]. The power plant is situated in the Hunedoara county (South-Eastern Transylvania), on the banks of the Mureş River, 7 km from the city of Deva.

It is controlled by Electrocentrale Deva, a state owned company. The 3 chimneys of the power station are 220 metres tall.

Mintia-Deva Power Plant
Country	Romania
Locale	Hunedoara county
Status	Active
Owner(s)	Termoelectrica
Power station information
Primary fuel	sub-bituminous coal
Generation units	6
Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1,285 MW

Vales Point Coal Power Plant is one of two coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park. It has two steam turbines, with a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW of electricity.

Vales Point was the first major power station in New South Wales to be located near its fuel source (coal).

Vales Point Coal Power Plant was originally built with three English Electric 200 MW turbo-alternators. The first two were completed in 1963, and the third in 1964. In 1966, a fourth turbo-alternator manufactured by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) Limited in the UK, with a capacity of 275 MW, was added.

These four units were known as "A" Station, its capacity of 875 MW making it the most powerful in New South Wales at that time. The original four generating units forming "A" Station were decommissioned in 1989.

In 1978, two Toshiba 660 MW units were added, becoming Vales Point Coal Power Plant "B". The combined capacity of 2 195 MW made Vales Point the largest power station in Australia at the time. The Toshiba 660 MW turbo-alternator became the standard in New South Wales, with similar units later being installed at Eraring, Bayswater and Mount Piper.

Vales Point Coal Power Plant uses salt water from Lake Macquarie for cooling. The coal for Vales Point comes from local mines, and is delivered by conveyor.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 9.32 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal.^[1] The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. 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.

Vales Point Power Station is recognisable in the background of the music video for the 1982 Midnight Oil track "U.S. Forces".

Vales Point Power Station
Country	Australia
Locale	New South Wales
Status	Baseload
Commission date	1978
Owner(s)	Delta Electricity
Power station information
Primary fuel	coal
Generation units	2
Combined cycle	No
Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1320 MW

Stanwell Coal Power Station is Stanwell Corporation Limited's major operating site which is located near Rockhampton and one of the largest industrial developments undertaken in Queensland. With a capacity to generate 1,400 megawatts (MW), Stanwell Power Station supplies electricity for distribution to customers via the state's high voltage electricity grid.

Stanwell Coal Power Station became fully operational in 1996 and is located on 1,600 hectares of land. Construction of the station took seven years, with infrastructure built to withstand cyclonic winds.

There are four generating units at Stanwell Power Station, each with a capacity of 350 MW. The four units and their components are housed in a 20 storey boiler house and a turbine hall the length of three football fields. The power station is highly automated and achieves both an efficient, effective workplace and high asset performance through the application of innovative technology and organisational design. These innovations have been recognised both nationally and internationally. Stanwell Power Station currently holds a world record for 1,073 days of continuous operation on Unit 4.

The Stanwell Coal Power Station features a 210-metre-high-chimney stack which was constructed using approximately 750,000 bricks. Two of the station's most impressive structures are the cooling towers. Each tower stands 130 metres high (about the height of a 40-storey building) and is 100 metres in diameter. Fifteen thousand cubic metres of concrete was poured for each tower. The plume seen coming from the cooling towers is steam, lost through evaporation during the water cooling process.

Emissions

The Stanwell Coal Power Station emits 9.67 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The IPCC says that developed countries should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40% by 2020 and by 80 to 95% by 2050. The Australian government has announced a target for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 60% from 2000 levels by 2050. Because of the harmful effects of global warming on Australia.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 9.67 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. 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.

Stanwell Coal Power Station
Country	Australia
Locale	Rockhampton
Status	Baseload
Commission date	1996
Owner(s)	Stanwell Corporation
Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1,400 MW

Mount Piper Coal Power Plant is located near Portland, in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is coal powered with two steam turbines with a combined generating capacity of 1,400 MW of electricity.

The first generator (Unit 2) was completed in 1992, and the second (Unit 1) in 1993. Units 3 and 4, although planned, were not built. It was the last power station built by the now-abolished Electricity Commission of New South Wales (Elcom). Much of the design work done was undertaken in-house by the Commission.

In 2007 Delta Electricity (the government owned enterprise that now runs the power station) re-rated the units at Mount Piper from their original 660MW to 700MW.

In 2007 & early 2008 there was public talk of 'completing' the power station but using modern super-critical, dry-cooling tower, coal-fired units of up to 1000MW capacity which uses much less water from surrounding rivers.

On the 7th of April 2010 the New South Wales Department of Planning announced that approval had been given to Delta Electricity to 'complete' the station by installing 2000MW of new generating capacity.

Mount Piper Coal Power Plant draws its cooling water from Lyell Dam and Thomsons Creek Dam, both purpose built for the station. Lyell Dam is located on the Coxs River 20 km away. Large pumps draw water from the dam and transfer it to a pipeline built between Thompsons Creek Dam and Mount Piper. The power station taking what water it needs and the excess flowing into Thompsons Creek Dam. When no pumps are in service the water supply to the power station is gravity fed from Thompsons Creek Dam.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 9.08 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. 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.

Yallourn Coal Power Plant 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. Today only the 1,450 MW Yallourn W plant remains, the third largest power station in Victoria which supplies 22% of state's electricity and 8% of National Electricity Market needs. The adjacent open Yallourn brown coal mine is the largest open cut coalmine in Australia, with reserves to meet the projected needs of the power station to 2032.

Yallourn A, B, C, D and E

Power generation at Yallourn Coal Power Plant was first proposed in 1919 when the State Government appointed a committee to investigate the use of coal from the Latrobe Valley. The plant was operated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, and the first sod was turned at the Yallourn Power Station site in 1921. Along with the power station, the town of Yallourn was constructed nearby to house workers of the plant. Coal was moved from the open cut mine to the power station by the Yallourn 900mm Railway, a narrow gauge electric railway running along temporary tracks in the mine. The Morwell Interconnecting Railway was later provided to the Morwell power station and briquette works for the transfer of Yallourn coal to the briquette works, as Morwell mine (now called Hazelwood mine) coal did not briquette satisfactorily.

In the complex, Yallourn Coal Power Plant A was the first plant opened, with Yallourn B entering service on 11 April 1932. Yallourn A was demolished in 1968, and Yallourn B following in the early 1970s. Yallourn C, D and E stations were commissioned in 1954, 1957 and 1961 respectively, and provided the bulk of Victoria's power until Hazelwood Power Station became operational in the mid 1960s.

Yallourn Coal Power Plant E station ceased generating power in January 1989, with C, D and E plants being demolished from 1995 onwards, with the site being cleared by 1999. The narrow gauge railway in the mine was replaced by conveyor belts in 1984, and the Morwell Interconnecting Railway was replaced by road haulage in 1993.

Briquette factory

In conjunction with the power station, the open cut mine also fed a briquette factory operated by the SECV. The first stage of the factory came into operation in November 1924 with a capacity of about 400 tons per day, with a major extension approved in 1927 and completed early in 1931 increasing the capacity to 1200 tons per day. Using German technology, the factory also generated electricity, with a maximum output of approximately 10 MW it produced 220 MWhr daily, of which about 50 MWhr was used in the factory and 170 MWhr was fed into the state grid. The plant closed in 1970, after the discovery and reticulation of natural gas in Victoria which lead to the closure of the major Lurgi briquette gasification plant in Morwell. Remaining demand for briquette was met by the Morwell briquette factory that was opened in 1959 and which is still open today.

Yallourn Coal Power Plant W

The current Yallourn Coal Power Plant W power station was built in the 1970s at Yallourn West. In 1969 it was announced that the town of Yallourn would be demolished to enable an expansion of the coal mine, with demolition commenced in the 1970s and completed by 1982. Yallourn W power station was the first Victorian generating entity to be privatised in 1996 when it was sold to Hong-Kong based CLP. The plant currently operates under the TRUenergy brand.

With the coal supply from Yallourn's East Field mine expected to be exhausted in 2007, work commenced on a diversion of the nearby Morwell River five years ago to grant unimpeded access to further coal sources from the Maryvale coal field. Without this, the power station potentially faced significant modification or even closure. The Morwell River Diversion, and the access to coal supplies it allows, will ensure Yallourn can continue to operate until 2032. The 3.5 km diversion was constructed over five years with an investment of A$122 million, and came in on time and on budget.

Recently, the station's name was shortened to be just "Yallourn Power Station". In late 2007, a subsidence in the mine wall resulted in the Latrobe River bursting through, damaging coal conveying plant and flooding low levels of the mine. Urgent earthwork repairs were made with the co-operation of other power generators. Coal production was limited for some weeks.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 11.50 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. 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.

The Tarong Coal Power Plant is a coal fired power station located on a 1500 hectare site near the Burnett River and Nanango, in Queensland, Australia. The station has a maximum generating capacity of 1470 megawatts, generated from a total of four turbines. Tarong Energy is the Queensland Government owned corporation that currently manages the plant.

Coal is supplied via a conveyor from Meandu Mine, which is 1.5 km away. The mine was operated by Rio Tinto Coal Australia. However Tarong Energy has recently purchased this mine. Coal supply beyond 2010 will most probably be delivered from the yet to be developed Kunioon Mine.

Water is supplied via pipeline from Boondooma Dam, west of Proston and Wivenhoe Dam. However due to drought conditions persisting, the Queensland Government directed the plant to stop taking water from Wivenhoe Dam from the 1 March 2006. These water supply problems reduced electrical output to less than half of maximum capacity. In 2007, the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project began delivery of recycled water to the power station allowing electical output to increase again.

The Tarong Coal Power Plant emits 9.84 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. Greenhouse gases may be responsible for climate change. The IPCC says that developed countries should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40% by 2020 and by 80 to 95% by 2050. The Australian government has announced a target for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 60% from 2000 levels by 2050.

The Huntly Coal Power Plant is the largest thermal power station in New Zealand and is located in the town of Huntly in the Waikato. It is operated by Genesis Energy, a state-owned enterprise, and supplies around 17% of the country's power.

Generation

The Huntly Coal Power Plant consists of three separate generating plants - a 1,000 MW coal-and-gas-fired steam plant, a 50 MW gas turbine generator, and a 385 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant.

Each of the four original generating units, which are capable of burning coal, gas, or both, installed in stages between 1973 and 1985, is capable of generating 250 MW (Megawatts) of electricity, giving a generating capacity of 1000 MW. Its chimneys are 150 metres high and each chimney has two flues that are 7 metres in diameter. The plant uses a reheat steam cycle, with C A Parsons turbines and Combustion Engineering boilers.

In 2004 the power station was upgraded with the addition of a 48MW gas turbine plant, and in 2007 the combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant was commissioned. This plant increased the total generating capacity of Huntly by 385 MW (250 MW gas turbine + 135 MW steam turbine). The new turbine is a NZ$ 520 million investment and takes the total installed capacity to 1485MW.

Huntly runs at a load factor of 85% and is currently used to provide a large amount of the baseload energy needs of the northern North Island.

Fuel and coolant

Up to 50% of the coal used in the older section of the power plant is imported from Indonesia, and the remainder mined in New Zealand. The gas for the newer turbines comes from the Maui gas field in the Taranaki. Previous to the substitution of coal, Huntly used gas from the field to power the generation of the main units as well, but these were switched in the 1990s because of dwindling resources.

The Huntly Coal Power Plant uses water from the Waikato River for cooling. However, in order to protect aquatic life, conditions are imposed by its resource consent (see Resource Management Act), specifying the quantity of water that can be removed by the station along with the maximum temperature of the water when returned to the river (25°C). These conditions mean that on very hot summer days the station cannot operate at maximum capacity, and has sometimes effectively been shut down. A new cooling tower has been built as part of expansion works at the site, which allows one 250 MW unit to run at full load even during such times.

Transmission and distribution

Huntly Coal Power Stations's main electricity customer is Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, which lies 95 kilometres (59 mi) to the north of the station. It also has connections to supply electricity to Taranaki, the Ruapehu District and South Waikato, and is the connection point for the local distribution network in the Huntly area.

Two twin-circuit 220 kV lines originate from Huntly - one connecting to Otahuhu substation in Auckland via Glenbrook and Takanini (HLY-OTA-A), and the other connecting to Taumarunui via Te Kowhai (HLY-TMN-A), before carrying on to Stratford in Taranaki. An additional twin-circuit 220 kV deviation exists, connecting Huntly to the Otahuhu to Whakamaru C line at the newly-commissioned Ohinewai switching station.

Huntly Power Station
Country	New Zealand
Locale	Huntly, Waikato
Status	Operational
Commission date	1983 (1983)
Owner(s)	Genesis Energy
Power station information
Primary fuel	Natural gas
Secondary fuel	Coal (units 1-4)
Generation units	4× 250 MW steam turbine 1× 400 MW CCGT 1× 48 MW open-cycle
Combined cycle	Unit 5 only
Power generation information
Installed capacity	1448 MW
Capacity factor	66.5%
Annual generation	8440 GWh

Aberthaw Coal Power Plant is a series of two coal-fired power stations situated on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is actually located on the waterfront of the nearby villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw on Limpert Bay. The current power station on the site, Aberthaw B Power Station, co-fires biomass and as of May 2007, its generating capacity is 1455 megawatts (MW).

Aberthaw Coal Power Plant Operations

Aberthaw Coal Power Plant burns approximately 5000–6000 tonnes of coal a day, contributing 6-7TWHrs per year. The site usually burns two thirds Welsh coal with the remainder being either foreign low-sulphur coal or biomass.

The station takes its entire coal feed stock in by rail, under contract to EWS from the Vale of Glamorgan Line. There are usually around five trains a day.

Until its closure, it was in part supplied with coal from Tower Colliery in Hirwaun. Coal now mainly comes from the Ffos-y-fran opencast reclamation scheme in Merthyr Tydfil, with other sources including: the Aberpergwm drift and opencast mines in the Neath Valley; and the Cwmgwrach Colliery via the Onllwyn Washery. Further stocks are sourced from abroad, primarily Russia, and shipped in via the Ports of Portbury, Avonmouth and Newport Docks.

In response to the government's renewable energy obligation that came into effect in April 2002, the station is currently firing a range of biomass materials to replace some of the coal burned. This is due to Welsh coal being less volatile than other coal and as such producing more sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Flue gas desulfurization

Aberthaw Coal Power Plant B was due for closure, but in June 2005 station owners npower agreed to install new technology to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by installing Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) equipment. This was to reduce sulphur dioxide levels by 90% by 2008, when new European environmental regulations came into place. Construction of the equipment started on 21 June 2006, with a tree-planting ceremony attended by the Welsh Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, Andrew Davies. The desulfurization FGD project is being carried out by a consortium of ALSTOM and AMEC, which will employ 500 workers on site at the peak of construction.

Nuclear proposal

It has recently been proposed that the plant would be a suitable location for a power station using nuclear power based on the existing infrastructure and logistics. However, it is generally held that nuclear stations would only be built in remote areas and on existing nuclear sites. Aberthaw is generally considered too close to Cardiff and is in a conservation area.

Aberthaw Coal Power Station
Country	Wales, United Kingdom
Locale	Barry, Vale of Glamorgan
Status	Operational (Aberthaw B)
Commission date	1966
Decommission date	1995 (Aberthaw A)
Operator(s)	RWE npower
Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Biomass
Generation units	3 x 500 MW
Power generation information
Installed capacity	1,500 MW

Aghios Dimitrios Power Plant is a coal power plant located near Agios Dimitrios, Kozani, between the town of Kozani and Ellispontos village, about 125 km west from Thessaloniki the major city in the northern part of Greece.

Aghios Dimitrios Power Plant is the largest Greek power plant. The plant has a total capacity of 1,585 MW being 2×300 MW (units I and II), 2×310 MW (units III and IV) and 1×365 MW (unit V). It burns lignite exploited in the opencast mines of the Lignite Center of Western Macedonia in the Ptolemais-Amynteo region, the main coal mining area in Greece.

Owner of the station is the Public Power Corporation (PPC).

Agios Dimitrios Coal Power Plant Unit V

Unit V was added to the existing four units of the Aghios Dimitrios plant to be connected to the 400 kV outdoor switchgear to increase the supply energy to the Greek national transmission grid. It is a unit of 350 MW electric, plus 70 MW thermal for district heating purposes.

On 1993 PPC awarded the contract for the supply and installation of Unit V to the consortium of the companies Ansaldo GIE (consortium leader - Italy, at present (2008) Ansaldo Energia a Finmeccanica Company), Austrian Energy and Environment SGP/Waagner-Biro GMBH (Austria) and AEGEK (Greece).

Main steps of the contract execution were:

- Cooling tower completion - November 1995

- 6 kV initial electrification - August 1996

- Boiler first ignition - February 1997

- Unit first synchronization - May 1997

- Official opening - October 1997

- Commercial operation - December 1997

On May 1995 the Kozani area suffered an earthquake of 6.6 degree of Richter scale which affected the smooth progress of the works.

Contract and project management

The contract was signed on March 31, 1993 by Th. Xanthopoulos PPC general manager, Vincenzo Vadacca Ansaldo GIE managing director, Heinz Zaunschirm and Helmuth Palzer A.E. & E./Waagner-Biro directors and John Triadafillou AEGEK managing director.

For the contract performance phase, the management of the project was provided by a project team composed by Roberto Pisani as project director appointed by the consortium leader Ansaldo GIE and Klaus Zink and Costas Latsenere as project managers appointed by A.E. & E. and AEGEK respectively. At the plant, Salvatore Brozzas and Giorgio Simoncin were appointed by the consortium leader as site and start-up managers interfacing with S. Spaniolas the Unit V construction manager of PPC. Project activities were supported by Vincenzo Gaiaschi and Konstantinos Keramidas in the consortium office of Athens led by Giorgio Mazzoni. Ansaldo GIE, consortium leader, played also the role of plant architect engineer assigning to Roberto Masi this duty as project engineer.

On October 18, 1997 the unit was officially opened at the presence of Costas Simitis Prime Minister of Greece, Enrico Pietromarchi Italian ambassador in Greece, Fabrizio Pignatelli Italian consul at Thessaloniki and other representatives of the Greek parliament and local authorities.

Scope of supply

Object of the contract between PPC and the Consortium was the design, engineering, manufacture, supply, transportation, installation, testing, putting in operation and delivery of one lignite-fired steam electric unit of 350 Mwe plus 70 MWth in Aghios Dimitrios plant, including the design, engineering, construction and supervision of the civil works.

The project included the following main equipment, systems and works:

- One steam turbine generating unit with condensing system and feedwater heating system (Ansaldo GIE), - One lignite-fired steam generating unit (boiler) (A.E. and E.), - The main and auxiliary power transformers (Ansaldo GIE) - Civil works (AEGEK) - FD and ID fans (Ansaldo GIE) - Electrostatic precipitators (A.E. and E.) - Ash handling system (A.E. and E.) - Lignite handling system (A.E. and E.) - Central heating air conditioning (AEGEK) - Fire detection system (Ansaldo GIE) - Waste water treatment (AEGEK) - Demi water storage (AEGEK) - Electrical equipment (Ansaldo GIE / A.E. and E.) - I&C (Ansaldo GIE / A.E. and E.) - District heating plant (Ansaldo GIE).

Greek companies as Aspate, Mekasol, Metka e Rodax participated in the construction of the unit as subcontractors of the three consortium members.

The Mount Storm Coal Power Plant, located on the west bank of Mount Storm Lake 2 miles (3 km) from Bismarck, West Virginia, is a coal-fired power station owned by Dominion Resources. It is the largest power plant that Dominion operates. Mt. Storm's three units can generate more than 1,600 megawatts of electricity from coal synfuel, although these units can also run on distillate fuel oil.

Generating units

Unit	Generating Capacity (MWe)	Commissioned	Boiler Manufacturer	Generator Manufacturer	Engineer and Builder
1	563	September 1965	Combustion Engineering	Westinghouse Electric	Stone & Webster
2	563	June 1966
3	567	December 1973		Asea Brown Boveri

Mount Storm Coal Power Plant
Country	United States
Locale	near Bismarck, West Virginia
Status	Active
Commission date	Unit 1: September, 1965 Unit 2: June, 1966 Unit 3: December, 1973
Owner(s)	Dominion
Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal Synfuel
Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1,600 MWe

Hazelwood Coal Power Station, in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia is a brown coal fueled base-load power station built between 1964 and 1971. The coal power station is of 1,600 megawatt (1,470 net) capacity, and supplies up to 25% of Victoria's base load electricity and more than 5% of Australia's total energy demand. The station was listed as the least carbon efficient power station in the world in a 2005 report by WWF Australia.

International Power purchased Hazelwood from the State Government in 1996 with a 40 year life. The Bracks Labor Government subsequently approved an environmental effects statement in 2005 that allowed Hazelwood to move a road and a river to access the coal allocated to Hazelwood at the time of sale.

Hazelwood directly employs 540 people and at least another 300 contractors, with hundreds more employed during major outages.

In late 2008, the owners of Hazelwood, International Power, said the financial viability of the power station would be in question under an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), unless the company received significant compensation.

Privatisation

Hazelwood Coal Power Station and associated mine were privatised by the Kennett government in 1996. It was sold for $2.35 billion, and it operates as 'International Power Hazelwood' (IPRH), an Australian public company, which is owned by UK company, International Power plc (91.8% share) and the Commonwealth Bank Group (the remaining 8.2%). The business office is near Morwell, 150 kilometres east of Melbourne. Prior to January 2003, International Power Hazelwood was known as Hazelwood Power.

Privatisation resulted in new capital investment, with $800 million invested in Hazelwood since 1996, such as replacement of boilers, rotors, turbines and the completion of an $85 million project to reduce dust emissions by 80%.

If Hazelwood had not been sold to private interests, activist groups say the SEC (State Electricity Commission) would have shut the station down in 2005.

Coal supply

Hazelwood relies on brown coal deposits from the nearby Morwell open cut mine. In 2003, 17.2 million tonnes of coal was excavated by International Power Hazelwood for use by the plant which generated 12,000 gigawatt-hours. The company supplied a further 1.6 million tonnes of coal to Energy Brix Australia.

EES Approval

Before privatisation the Hazelwood Coal Power Station was due to be decommissioned by the SECV by 2005, as had older plants at Newport and Yallourn. However Hazelwood had its mining licence realigned by the Victorian Government along with EES approvals to move a river and a road on 6 September 2005. This agreement ensures security of coal supply to the plant until at least 2030 by allowing access to 43 million tonnes of brown coal deposits in a realignment of Hazelwood's mining licence boundaries that were originally set in 1996. Hazelwood returned over 160 million tonnes of coal to the State Government as part of the agreement.

The agreement requires Hazelwood to reduce its estimated emissions by 34 million tonnes and caps its total greenhouse output at 445 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its life, after which point it may be made to cease operation. However credits for investment in renewable energy and low emission technology will allow the business to operate within the cap and extend its life.

Hazelwood's West Field development involved completing a new 7.5 km section of the Strzelecki Highway, replacing over ten kilometres of the Morwell River from an old concrete pipe into a natural open channel riverine setting, and acquiring privately owned land which was earmarked for future coal supply. Despite the clear improvements to local river health, energy security and the rights of a private business to access its own coal supply, activist green groups, including Environment Victoria, Greenpeace and Australian Conservation Foundation opposed the development approvals, while business groups such as Minerals Council of Australia, VECCI, Aust Industry Group and Institute of Public Affairs welcomed the Government's decision.

Bio-Algae trial

A trial algae photobioreactor plant was established at Hazelwood in the early 2000s by Energetix, a division of the Victor Smorgon Group. The plant houses algae that feed on emissions from the smoke stacks, which are then harvested and turned into biofuels. The technology Hazelwood is using was developed at MIT and is licensed from Greenfuels. The trial was successful and has now concluded. Commercial application of the technology could see over 1000 hectares of photobioreactors be built which will turn 5% of Hazelwood's emissions into biofuels.

Decommission

The Hazelwood Coal Power Station would not have had access to its purchased coal from 2009 unless approvals to move road and river infrastructure were granted under the 2005 West Field EES process. The Labor Government approved the EES in 2005 so IPRH could access its coal reserves and operate its business until 2031. However, there is major support for the decommission of the facility.

CO₂ emissions

The Hazelwood Coal Power Station was listed as the least carbon efficient power station in the world in a 2005 report by WWF Australia. The WWF reported that the power station produced 1.58 tonnes of CO₂ per megawatt-hour of electricity generated in 2004 (official result was 1.55), which was a significant reduction of 6.6% from the 1996 levels of 1.66 Mt/TWh when the plant was privatised. This CO₂ per megawatt-hour reduction is now over 10% based on performance to 2009.

With a 60% increase in power generation since 1996, Hazelwood now averages up to 16.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year (the second highest emitter in the Latrobe Valley), which is 3 % of Australia's total carbon dioxide emissions, and 9 % of Australia's total CO₂ from electricity generation.

Australia's biggest carbon capture pilot plant, and one of the largest of its type in the world,^[14] has been built at Hazelwood capturing up to 25 tonnes, or 0.05%, of CO₂ per day.

Water usage

1.31 megalitres of water was consumed per gigawatt hour of power generated in 2005. Cooling water for the power station is supplied by the Hazelwood Pondage, built for this purpose in the 1960s. The pondage is supplied with water from the Moondarra Reservoir and runoff pumped from the adjacent mine. At the mine, water is sprayed onto the coal to reduce the chance of fire and to suppress dust.

Public access to the pondage is permitted for sailing, boating and other recreational water sports. Cichlids and other tropical fish that were released into the lake by the public have established populations, including Convict cichlids (Cryptoheros nigrofasciatus) and the African cichlid spotted tilapia (Tilapia mariae). Other fish include carp, goldfish (Carassius auratus), Gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki), and the native short-finned eel (Anguilla australis) and Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni).

Pollutants

In a 2007-2008 report, the National Pollutant Inventory rated the power station's polychlorinated dioxins and furans as "high 100", hydrochloric acid as "high 87", oxides of nitrogen as "medium 57", particulate matter 2.5 μm as "low 21", and boron & compounds as "low 15".

2005-2006 NPI data showed that Hazelwood releases 100,000 kg of boron and compounds into the air and 5,200 kg into water. Also released into the air: 7,700,000 kg hydrochloric acid, 27,000,000 kg of oxides of nitrogen, 2,900,000 kg of particulate matter 10 μm, and 0.015 kg of polychlorinated dioxins and furans.

Many pollutants are not measured.

Carbon capture plant

In July, 2009, International Power opened a carbon capture and storage demonstration plant at Hazelwood power station. The process takes emissions from the power station smoke stacks, extracts CO₂ and uses a chemical process to turn it into calcium carbonate. The resulting solid can then be stored above ground or sold to industry. This process will capture 25 tonnes or 0.05% of daily emmissions from the plant.

Hazelwood Coal Power Station
Country	Australia
Locale	Latrobe Valley, Victoria
Status	Baseload
Commission date	1964
Owner(s)	International Power Hazelwood
Power station information
Primary fuel	Lignite
Generation units	8 x C A Parsons
Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1,600 MW

Camden Coal Power Plant in Mpumalanga, South Africa, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom. Camden was commissioned in 1967. Between 1990 and 2006 the station was mothballed, but the South Africa energy crisis in early 21st century prompted Eskom to recommission the station, starting with unit 6 in July 2005 and completing with unit 1 in July 2008.

Camden Coal Power Plant power is generated by eight 200MW units with a total installed capacity on 1,600MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 33.40%.

In addition to feeding the South African grid, Camden, along with Arnot Power Station, also feeds the Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique via 400kV transmission lines. Mozal consumes around 950MW.

The Gladstone Coal Power Plant is the largest coal power plant in Queensland, with six coal powered steam turbines generating a maximum of 1,680 MW of electricity. Power from the station was first generated in 1976.

The Gladstone Coal Power Plant was privatized in 1994. It is currently owned by a group, including Rio Tinto Aluminium, NRG Energy and other Japanese partners.

This fossil fuel power plant draws seawater for cooling. Black coal is brought by rail from the Curragh mine, 200 km west of Rockhampton.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 11.80 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal.

Gladstone Power Station
Commission date	1976
Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Generation units	6
Power generation information
Installed capacity	1680 MW

The Prunéřov Coal Power Station is a largest coal-fired power station in the Czech Republic with installed capacity of 1,490 MW. It is located near Kadaň.

According to the study Dirty Thirty, issued in May 2007 by the WWF, Prunéřov Coal Power Station is the twelfth-worst power station in Europe in terms of the relation of energy efficiency to carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Power station is largest single source of CO₂ in Czech Republic. In 2008 it emitted 9,210 millions of metric tons of CO₂. Unit 2 (EPRU II) of Prunéřov power station has a 300-metre (980 ft) tall flue gas stack.

CEZ announced plan to modernize unit 2. This plan was challenged by Micronesia on the grounds that the expansion of the power station has impact to the climate and through this to the environment of Micronesia. According Czech environment ministry that modernization plan do not include best available technology. On January 26 2010 Czech minister of the Environment Jan Dusík (Green Party member) informed he was calling in international experts to carry out an environmental impact assessment of plans to modernize the power station. In March he publicly released the report from Det Norske Veritas, that proved lack of best available technology in the CEZ plan EIA. Shortly after Minister Dusík resigned, while claiming he was under pressure from prime minister Jan Fischer to approve CEZ plan EIA. As result Green party also withdrew his second minister from government. After short led by Minister of Agriculture Jakub Šebesta former CEZ employee Rút Bízková was appointed as Minister of the Environment and after two weeks in office he approved CEZ plan EIA in April.

Prunéřov Coal Power Station
Official name	Elektrárna Prunéřov
Country	Czech Republic
Locale	Kadaň
Status	Operational
Commission date	1967-1968 (EPRU I), 1981-1982 (EPRU II)
Owner(s)	CEZ Group
Power station information
Primary fuel	lignite
Generation units	4 × 110 MW (EPRU I) 5 × 210 MW (EPRU II)
Power generation information
Installed capacity	1,490 MW

The Rovinari Coal Power Station is one of the largest electricity producers in Romania, having 4 groups of 330 MW each thus totaling an installed capacity of 1,420 MW.

The Rovinari Coal Power Station is undergoing modernization works, which will add a new 500 MW group at a total cost of US$ 600 million. After the modernization, the power plant will have a total installed capacity of 2,220 MW. Other important works include the fitting of several sulfur filters at the existing power groups at a total cost of US$ 250 million.

The power plant is situated in the Gorj County (South-Western Romania) on the banks of the Jiu River near Târgu Jiu.

Callide Coal Power Plant is located near Biloela, in Central Queensland, Australia. It is coal powered with eight steam turbines with a combined generation capacity of 1,720 MW of electricity.

The coal for Callide comes from the nearby Callide Coalfields and water from the Awoonga dam and Stag Creek Pipeline.

Callide A was commissioned in 1965 and refurbished in 1998. It has four 30 MW steam turbines. Callide A has been in storage since 2001, except for Unit 4 which is being used for the Callide Oxyfuel project. Callide B was commissioned in 1988 with two 350 MW steam turbines.

The Callide Coal Power Plant C was commissioned in 2001 with two 450 MW advanced cycle steam tubines. Callide C uses a more efficient "supercritical" boiler technology to burn coal to generate electricity.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 5.73 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal.^[5] The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2011 to help combat climate change. 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.