Date: May 25, 2021
Location: Mount Murchison, Queensland (Australia)
Address: 959 Biloela Callide Road, 4715
Type: Potential Dust Explosion
Fuel: Coal Dust
Industry: Power Generation
Equipment: Unknown
Company: Callide Power Station
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to its website, Callide Power Station is a coal-powered power station in Mount Murchison, in Central Queensland, Australia. It has eight steam turbines with a combined generation capacity of 1,720 MW of electricity via its two sites: Callide B and Callide C.
The 700-megawatt Callide B Power Station was commissioned in 1988 and supplies electricity to the national market. Callide C was the first supercritical coal-fired power station in Australia and has a capacity of 825 MW.
Incident Description:
On May 25, 2021, ABC reported an explosion and fire at a coal-powered power station in Mount Murchison, Queensland, Australia.
The incident occurred in one of the turbine halls at approximately 1:45 p.m, causing all units to go offline. The hydrogen-filled generator or the main turbine is believed to have had a catastrophic failure, resulting in an explosion and then fire.
Staff were evacuated and a 550-metre exclusion zone was set up while firefighting operations took place. Power to the station site was cut and gas and chemical operations were disconnected or shut down.
400,000 customers initially lost power. Area residents were asked to limit their electricity use to reduce the risk of future outages.
According to the Guardian, the generator involved had broken down eight separate times last year and rebuilding is expected to take over a year.
No injuries were reported.
