Mica Creek Power Station

Mica Creek Power Station is located 5 km south of Mount Isa in north-west Queensland, Australia. It is natural gas powered with 12 turbines of various sizes that generate a combined capacity of 318 MW of electricity. The power station is owned by state government owned Stanwell Corporation.

For the village in British Columbia, Canada, see Mica Creek.

Mica Creek Power Station
CountryAustralia
LocationMount Isa, Queensland
Coordinates20°46′40″S 139°29′26″E
StatusOperational
Commission date1960 (1960)
Owner(s)Stanwell Corporation
Thermal power station
Primary fuelNatural gas
Turbine technologySteam turbine and gas turbine
Combined cycle?5 units
Power generation
Units operational7
Nameplate capacity216 MW

Mica Creek was originally coal-fired, with conversion to natural gas completed in 2000.[1] Gas is sourced from the Cooper Eromanga Basin gas field via the 840 km Carpenteria Pipeline.[2]

Mica Creek supplies electricity to mining companies in the region, as well as Mount Isa, Cloncurry, and the nearby region.[1]

Current Status

For more than 54 years, Mica Creek was the sole large-scale supplier of electricity to mining and residential communities in the State's north west.

In December 2014, a new power station was officially opened in Mount Isa. Customers of Mica Creek switched to the new power station when their power purchase agreements expired, with the exception of one mining customer. They will continue to receive power from Mica Creek until 2019.[3]

At the end of 2014, the requirement for generation from Mica Creek was reduced to less than 100 MW, in line with the commissioning of Diamantina Power Station.[4]

In December 2014, work began to put Mica Creek into a long-term configuration. The C1 and C2 units were placed in cold storage, leaving the power station with seven operational generating units. [3]

The Mica Creek Power Station will be shut down at 8am on 1 January 2021 as the last of its contracts are completed. The Diamantina Power Station will ramp up as Mica Creek's load is gradually lowered.[5]

See also
  • List of active power stations in Queensland

References
  1. "Mica Creek Power Station". CS Energy. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  2. "Our Business; Energy Infrastructure; Queensland". APA Group website. APA Group. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.stanwell.com/story/what-we-do/
  5. "Mica Creek Power Station winds down for the last time after 60 years". ABC. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.


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