Redbank power station

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Redbank power station is a retired power station in Gouldsville, New South Wales, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Redbank power station Gouldsville, New South Wales, Australia -32.580534, 151.07147 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1: -32.580534, 151.07147

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal: waste coal 151 subcritical 2001 2014

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 Redbank Energy Ltd [100%] Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd

Background

The Redbank power station was a 151-megawatt coal fired plant in New South Wales, Australia. It was owned and operated by National Power, a privately-owned company which also has interests in wind, solar and biomass projects.[1][2] It is currently owned by Redbank Energy.

The coal plant was retired in 2014. [3]

Proposed conversion to burn woody biomass

In March 2023, it was reported that the energy company Verdant Earth Technology had "lodged a scoping report for its plans to restart the Redbank Power Station near Singleton and use 850,000 tonnes of waste wood residue as a substitute fuel for the generation of electricity," but was being met by opposition from environmental groups. [4] One environmental advocacy group in NSW called on "all political parties to immediately rule out this ridiculous proposal to waste taxpayers’ money to bulldoze [their] forests and create millions of tonnes of emissions." [4]

Handout from carbon tax package

National Power, the former owners of the Redbank Power Station, received $8,766,418.74 of the $1 billion cash payments given out in 2011/12[5] to the operators of the most polluting coal-fired power stations. The cash was paid from the Energy Security Fund which was established as a part of the carbon tax legislation passed in 2011.[6][7]

Bitcoin Proposal

In April 2018, the IOT Group in partnership Hunter Energy announced a plan to restart Redbank in 2019 and use the energy to create bitcoin, and potentially to power other blockchain applications.[8]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. "About National Power", National Power website, acccessed May 2011.
  2. "Fossil", National Power website,accessed May 2011.
  3. "Retirement of coal fired power stations, Interim report," Environment and Communications References Committee, The Senate, November 2016, Table 2.2
  4. 4.0 4.1 [https://reneweconomy.com.au/green-group-promises-relentless-fight-against-bid-to-convert-coal-plant-to-woody-biomass/ Green group wages war against renewed bid to convert coal plant to woody biomass], Renew Economy, March 17, 2023 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "renewecon23" defined multiple times with different content
  5. Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency,"Generation complexes eligible to receive Energy Security Fund cash payments", Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency website, July 9, 2012.
  6. Australian Government, "An overview of the Clean Energy Legislative Package", Clean Energy Future website, accessed January 2013.
  7. Energy Security Council, "About the Council", Energy Security Council website, accessed January 2013.
  8. This coal power plant is being reopened for blockchain mining, CNET, Apr. 11, 2018

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.