Kooragang Coal Terminal

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Kooragang Coal Terminal is a coal export terminal at the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, the world's largest coal export port.

Kooragang Coal Terminal is owned by Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS), and has a licensed capacity of 120 million tonnes of coal per annum (mtpa).

Location

The terminal is located at the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. It is one of two terminals at the Port operated by Port Waratah Coal Services, the other being Carrington Coal Terminal on the other side of the South Channel of the Hunter River. Each terminal includes equipment for delivery and storage of coal to the terminal, and for loading the coal onto transport vessels.

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Project Details

• Owner: Port Waratah Coal Services
• Location: Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
• Capacity: 120 million tonnes of coal per annum
• Status: Operating
• Start year: 1984
• Type: Exports
• Coal source: Mines in the Upper Hunter Valley and the Gunnedah Basin, Australia

Background

The Kooragang coal terminal began operating in 1984 and was managed by BHP until its purchase by Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) in 1990. From 1994 to 2011, PWCS invested over US$2 billion into the terminal, expanding shiploading capacity from 64 million tonnes to the current capacity of 120 million tonnes. The terminal has berth space for five vessels up to a maximum of 210,000 dwt, with three shiploaders operating at 10,500 tons per hour.

The Kooragang Coal Terminal is part of the Hunter Valley Coal Chain, a chain of coal delivery from mines in the Hunter Valley to the Port of Newcastle, and all of the coal received at Kooragang is rail delivery.

In 2020, Port Waratah Coal Services stockpiled, blended and loaded 105.9 million tonnes of coal onto 1192 vessels for export,, with 15.5Mt at Carrington Coal Terminal and 90.4Mt at Kooragang Coal Terminal.

Direct Action against Kooragang coal terminal

July 13 & 14, 2008: Newcastle, NSW, Australia Climate Camp stops coal trains at world's largest coal export port

On July 14, 2008, five activists stopped coal loading at the Kooragang coal terminal for more than two hours by chaining themselves to a conveyor belt. Later that afternoon four protesters padlocked themselves to the tracks at the Carrington coal terminal, stopping all train traffic until police were able cut the group free. All nine were arrested.

The direct actions, organised as part of the Australian Camp for Climate Action, were an attempt to bring worldwide attention to coal's role in climate change and the expansion of Australian coal exports.

Resources

Related GEM.wiki articles

• Australia and coal
• Australian Coal Association
• BHP Billiton's coal interests
• Rio Tinto's coal interests
• Coal terminals