Date: February 4, 2018/ February 8, 2018
Location: Yallourn, Victoria (Australia)
Address: Yallourn Power Station, Eastern Road, Yallourn, 3825 Victoria, Australia
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Coal Dust
Industry: Power Generation (Electric)
Equipment: Coal Bunker
Company: Energy Australia
Previous Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: 800 Square Meters Damaged
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
Founded in 1995, EnergyAustralia (formerly known as: TRUenergy) is an electricity generation and gas retailing company, headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. It provides electricity and gas services to over 2.7 million households and businesses in Australia. The company’s portfolio represents a mix of coal, gas, solar and wind energy, totalling 5,000MW of capacity. It includes two large coal-fired power stations, at Yallourn in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and Mt Piper near Lithgow in New South Wales. The firm is owned by Hong Kong-based and listed CLP Group.
Located 150 km east of Melbourne, Yallourn Power is a brown coal fired power station operated by EnergyAustralia. Four turbine generators feature the combined capacity of 1480 MW of electricity, enough to power two million homes. Adjacent to the station is Australia’s second largest open cut mine producing 18 million tonnes of brown coal each year. # Moved
Description of Power Plant Fire:
A serious fire accident incident was reported by Latrobe Valley Express at the Yallourn Power Station on Sunday, February 4, 2018. It is suspected coal dust in a bunker ignited in the dry and hot weather. At 9.30 am, Country Fire Authority (CFA) crews from nearby Churchill, Traralgon, Morwell, Yallourn North and Newborough were called to site. Up to 50 firefighters participated in the fighting the fire. The 800-metres area near the conveyor supplying coal to the station, where the accident started, was damaged.
At 10 am on Tuesday, February 6, CFA crews were called to the site again to support the power stations fire crew. This time, The firefighters used thermal imaging technology to establish the location of embers and help put out the remaining smouldering fire. By 12.30 pm the fire was under control and at 4.30 pm, the crews left the site, declaring it safe. In the news article the operations director discussed the difficulties in putting out coal bunker fires. It was a hard work to put off the a fire of that nature, according to District 27 operations officer. EnergyAustralia is conducting an internal the review of the incident accident. The company’s representatives claimed the community safety, as well The continuity of power generation for the community was not compromised during the fire event.
Previous Incidents:
Unfortunately, this is not the first fire reported at the Yallourn Power Station.
On July 10, 2014, the Herald Sun reported fire crews were called to the site at to deal with a scaffold and coal fire. The fire was described as contained in 80%, but 30 firefighters were needed to put it off. The accident put the station’s machinery at risk, but no injuries were reported.
On November 3rd, 2014, another accident was reported by CFA News. At 8.20 am, firefighting brigades from Yallourn, North Morwell, Newborough, and the Traralgon Ladder Platform snorkel unit were called to a minor fire that started in the crusher house. When they arrived on site, fixed deluge systems had already been activated to stop the spread of the fire. The firefighters doused the remaining hot spots. As a result of the accident, power generation was temporarily reduced for a short periods of time. The cause of the fire was not disclosed. No injuries were reported.
In July of 2017, a fire started at 9 pm at the in the boilermakers’ workshop, as per (Source: ABC Gippsland). It took 30 firefighters to put the fire down. No injuries were reported, but the building structure and equipment get were damaged. It is not clear if this fire involved coal dust.
Sources:
Latrobe Valley Express
Herald Sun
CFA News
ABC Gippsland
CFA Facebook
