Stanwell Power Station


Stanwell Power Station is a coal-fired power generation station located in Stanwell, south-west of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. At the time of construction, it was one of the largest industrial developments undertaken in Queensland. With a capacity to generate 1,445 megawatts, Stanwell Power Station supplies electricity for distribution to customers via the state's high voltage electricity grid.
Stanwell became fully operational in 1996 and is located on 4,000 acres of land. Construction of the station took seven years, with infrastructure built to withstand cyclonic winds.

Design

There are four generating units at Stanwell Power Station. 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 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 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.