Kogan Creek power station
| Part of the Global Coal Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project. |
| Related coal trackers: |
Kogan Creek power station is an operating power station of at least 750-megawatts (MW) in Brigalow, Queensland, Australia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Kogan Creek power station | Brigalow, Queensland, Australia | -26.917881, 150.750738 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1: -26.917881, 150.750738
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal: bituminous | 750 | supercritical | 2007 | 2042 (planned) |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | CS Energy Ltd [100%] | CS Energy Ltd [100.0%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): Kogan Creek mine
Background
Kogan Creek power station is a single-unit coal-fired power plant with a capacity of 750 MW. The plant was completed in 2007, and is owned by CS Energy.[1] An A$90 million overhaul of the plant was conducted between July 2019 and September 2019.[2]
In September 2020, an analysis by the Australia Institute of two years’ data has found that the Kogan Creek coal plant was the most unreliable unit in the National Energy Market (NEM). The NEM covers the bulk of Australian electricity grid except for Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The Kogan Creek plant, a supercritical coal plant commissioned in 2007, suffered 13 breakdowns. The institute found that between mid-December 2017 and the end of 2019 there were 185 breakdowns at coal power stations in the NEM; 65 of them were at Queensland plants.[3]
In October 2021, it was announced that CS Energy would construct a Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Plant at the Kogan Creek power station. The project would include a 2 MW solar array, a 2 MW battery, a 1 MW hydrogen electrolyzer and a small hydrogen fuel cell. Construction was to begin in December 2022, and commissioning was expected in late 2023.[4] In March 2022, the Queensland Government announced that it would provide nearly AUD$30 million for the project.[5] In May 2022, CS Energy stated that they would pursue a joint venture, maintaining a 75% stake in the project. The remaining 25% equity would belong to partner company Senex Energy.[6]
In September 2022, a long term overhaul began at the plant, which took the power station offline. As of October, the return-to-service date was expected to be in mid-December 2022. The CEO of CS Energy stated that the project required more repairs than expected.[7]
In April 2023, it was reported that progress on the "Kogan Creek Clean Energy Hub [was] the most advanced in the state, with construction to begin soon on its second project – the Kogan Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Plant." [8] Although the power station is seemingly being re-marketed as a "clean energy hub," an April 2023 report stated that after 2040, the Kogan Creek power station would be "the only remaining coal capacity" in the National Electricity Market, "which is then scheduled to be shutdown in 2042." [9]
A 2023 report modeling a transition to a "credible 1.5°C scenario" charted an accelerated closure year of 2030 for the Kogan Creek coal-fired plant to be aligned with the 1.5°C case, however, CS Energy had not engaged with this report or its data. [10]
According to reporting in 2024, the Kogan Creek coal plant was being plagued by ongoing maintenance issues, as was Callide power station. The Australian energy market regulator reportedly warned that extended outages were putting the east coast grid under stress during a heatwave.[11]
Union organizes industrial action for workers' rights (2023)
Reporting in 2023 stated that unionized workers at the power station had organized a protected industrial action in protest of the power station owner CS Energy's "inability to abide by the freshly inked Queensland Energy Workers’ Charter," according to the union.[12] The union's stated demands included "conditions such as payout of personal leave, removal caps on redundancy payments and better transparency on the use of contractors to be included in a new pay deal."[13] According to a statement by CS Energy on September 21, 2023, the company respected the right of the workers to strike and was allegedly working to reach agreement with the union.[14] While further updates on the result of the strike were not available as of November 2023, the power station appeared to be functioning normally at the time of writing.
Kogan Clean Energy Hub
Adjacent to the Kogan Creek coal-fired power plant, CS Energy was building a "clean energy hub" in 2023 that would eventually comprise a grid-scale battery, a hydrogen power demonstration plant, and a "hydrogen-ready" power plant.[15]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ Kogan Creek Power Station, Wikipedia, accessed Sept. 2015.
- ↑ $90 million overhaul for Kogan Creek Power Station, Utility Magazine, Jul. 15, 2019
- ↑ George Roberts, Queensland's gas and coal-fired power stations have most outages in the country, report finds, ABC News, Sep. 6, 2020
- ↑ Green Light for Kogan Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Plant, CS Energy, Oct. 12, 2021
- ↑ Green hydrogen to drive heavy transport, Queensland Government, March 22, 2022
- ↑ CS Energy and Senex Energy Join Forces on Renewable Hydrogen, CS Energy, May 4, 2022
- ↑ Kogan Creek Power Station Overhaul Extended, CS Energy, Oct. 12, 2022
- ↑ Clean Energy Hub Charged Up By Tesla Battery, The Mirage News, April 19, 2023
- ↑ Downscaling – Firm generation and pumped hydro energy storage, Net Zero Australia, April 19, 2023
- ↑ Accelerating our energy transition with a credible 1.5°C scenario, Baringa, April 17, 2023
- ↑ “Extended outages of “always on” baseload power leaves coal states vulnerable to heatwave,” Renew Economy, November 26, 2024
- ↑ Industrial action spreads to power as Kogan Creek hit, Australia Financial Review, September 18, 2023
- ↑ Mining and Energy Union workers to take strike action at Kogan Creek power station, ABC News, September 18, 2023
- ↑ CS ENERGY WORKS TO MINIMISE THE IMPACT OF KOGAN CREEK PROTECTED ACTION, CS Energy, September 21, 2023
- ↑ Clean Energy Hubs, CS Energy, Accessed: May 114, 2024
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
