The Bell Bay Power Station was a power station located in Bell Bay, on the Tamar River, Tasmania, Australia, adjacent to the Tamar Valley Power Station, with which it was often confused. It was commissioned between 1971 and 1974 as an oil fired thermal power station, and was converted to natural gas in 2003, after the commissioning of the Tasmanian Gas Pipeline, a submarine gas pipeline which transports natural gas from Longford, Victoria, under Bass Strait, to Bell Bay, Tasmania. As the power station's primary role was to provide system security in the event of drought for Tasmania's predominantly hydro-electric based generation system it only was rarely called on to operate, resulting in intervals of five to eight years between periods of significant use. After the commissioning of Basslink in 2006, the power station was decommissioned in 2009. At the time of decommissioning, it had two gas fired steam turbines and three gas turbines, giving a total capacity of of electricity. After the Bell Bay Power Station was decommissioned, the three smaller units became part of the Tamar Valley Power Station.
History
Establishment
In response to a prolonged dry period in Tasmania in 1967 and 1968, the then Hydro-Electric Commission sought to diversify Tasmania's electricity supply away from hydro-electricity. This resulted in the first unit of the Bell Bay Power Station being commissioned in 1971: a single oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox, single drum, reheat boiler, supplying steam to an NEIParsons steam turbine with hydrogen cooled generator. In 1974, a second near identical unit followed. Cooling water was via a once-through cooling system, drawing water directly from the Tamar River. Three capacity fuel oil tanks supplied the of fuel oil per day required to run each of the steam sets. Fuel oil was delivered by tank ship and discharged across a dedicated oil jetty at the site. The tall stack is a distinctive feature in the area.
Conversion to natural gas
The Tasmanian Gas Pipeline, a submarine gas pipeline which transports natural gas from the Essonatural gas plant at Longford, Victoria, under Bass Strait, to Bell Bay, Tasmania, was commissioned in 2002. In 2003, Unit one was converted from fuel oil to natural gas, and Unit two was converted in 2004.
Expansion
In 2006, three Pratt & Whitney FT8 Twin Pac open cycle gas turbine units were acquired from an existing facility in the US. These open cycle units were installed at a site adjacent to the original Bell Bay Power Station.
Basslink
The Basslink electricity interconnector, which linked the electricity grids of mainland Australia and Tasmania from April 2006, secured Tasmania from reliance on hydro-electric based generation in the event of drought.
Ownership
Bell Bay Power Station was owned by Hydro Tasmania via wholly owned subsidiary companies. In March 2007, Western Australian power company Alinta agreed to buy the peaking plant site from Hydro Tasmania for about $75 million, which included gas pipeline capacity agreements. This would complement their proposed 200 MW combined cycle Tamar Valley Power Station, which was due for completion in early 2009, and which was to be located somewhere in the Bell Bay precinct. Aurora Energy acquired the ex Alinta Energy combined cycle power station project and the peaking plant from the then new owner, Babcock and Brown Power in September 2008. The Tasmanian Government included a possible transfer of the existing Bell Bay Power Station to Aurora Energy as part of the acquisition. The transfer of the existing two thermal units did not proceed. Hydro Tasmania remains the owner and the station is currently available for sale whole or as parts.
