In 2021 the Callide C Power Station experienced a unit failure that tore the turbine-generator apart, resulted in hundreds of thousands of premises losing power, and cost hundreds of millions to repair. We look at how design errors and ultimately a lack of information led to the incident escalating out of control, when it could have been recovered.With John Chidgey.Formal Reports:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.csenergy.com.au/news/cs-energy-releases-technical-report-into-2021-unit-c4-incident">Callide Unit C4 Turbine Generator Failure 25 May 2021 (PDF)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLvjFohK9g">Animation of the Callide Unit C4 incident</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.aemo.com.au/-/media/files/electricity/nem/market_notices_and_events/power_system_incident_reports/2021/trip-of-multiple-generators-and-lines-in-qld-and-associated-under-frequency-load-shedding.pdf">Trip of multiple generators and lines in Central Queensland and associated under-frequency load shedding on 25 May 2021 (PDF)</a></li>
</ul>
News Releases and Articles:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2024/02/cs-energy-releases-report-into-2021-callide-c4-unit-failure/">CS Energy releases report into 2021 Callide C4 Unit Failure</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.csenergy.com.au/news/cs-energy-releases-technical-report-into-2021-unit-c4-incident">CS Energy releases technical report into 2021 Unit C4 incident</a></li>
<li><a href="https://esdnews.com.au/dr-sean-brady-to-lead-independent-investigation-into-callide-incident/">Dr Sean Brady to lead independent investigation into Callide incident</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nvi.com.au/story/8520470/battery-failure-led-to-power-plant-mass-outage-report/">Battery failure led to power plant mass outage</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2021/01/13jan2021-bothunittrip-callidec/">Both units trip at Callide C on Wednesday 13th January 2021</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.csenergy.com.au/news/statement-regarding-ig-power">Statement regarding IG Power</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/callide-c-co-owner-genuity-goes-into-voluntary-administration-20230324-p5cv4u">Intergen voluntary administration</a></li>
<li><a href="https://esdnews.com.au/cs-energy-says-callide-c4-incident-could-not-have-been-anticipated/">Report says Callide C4 incident &ldquo;could not have been anticipated&rdquo;</a></li>
<li><a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/control-room-went-black-callide-explosion-blamed-on-battery-charger-failure/">Callide explosion blamed on battery charger failure</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nsspl.com.au/news/2639-callide-power-trading-taken-to-court-over-system-failure.html">Callide Power Trading taken to court over system failure</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/infrastructure/300m-insurance-claim-goes-boom-after-power-station-explosion-20240214-p5f4y6">CS Energy says insurers won’t agree to $300m claim over power station</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/labor-heavyweight-jim-soorley-stands-down-from-cs-energy-20230605-p5de04">Jim Soorley stands down from CS Energy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cs-energy_today-we-released-a-report-on-the-technical-activity-7163019521291702272-HmOt/">CS Energy Post about Incident on LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>
Super-Critical Boilers:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.irjet.net/archives/V5/i6/IRJET-V5I6489.pdf">Super-Critical Boiler Technology (PDF)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Supercritical_fluid">Supercritical Fluids</a></li>
<li><a href="https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Supercritical_coal_plant">Supercritical Coal Plants</a></li>
</ul>
Electrical Engineering References:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen-cooled_turbo_generator">Hydrogen-cooled Turbo Generator</a></li>
<li><a href="https://product-help.schneider-electric.com/ED/MTZ/Micrologic_X_User_Guide/EDMS/DOCA0102EN/DOCA0102xx/ProtectionFunctions/ProtectionFunctions-18.htm">Reverse Active Power Protection (ANSI 32P)</a></li>
</ul>
Court Action:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/publications/reports/compliance/cs-energy-limited-alleged-failure-obtain-regulatory-approval-operate-generating-system">Alleged failure to obtain regulatory approval to operate a generating system</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/system/files/2024-02/AER%20v%20Callide%20Power%20Trading%20-%20Concise%20Statement%20-%209%20February%202024_0.pdf">Notice of Filing: Australian Energy Regulator v Callide Power Trading Pty Ltd (PDF)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/coal-generator-to-face-court-over-blackouts-caused-by-catastrophic-explosion/">Coal generator to face court over blackouts caused by catastrophic explosion</a></li>
</ul>
General Information:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.csenergy.com.au/what-we-do/thermal-generation/callide-power-station">Callide Power Station</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Power_Station">Stanwell Power Station</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarong_Power_Station">Tarong Power Station</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callide_Power_Station">Callide Power Station</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.csenergy.com.au/environment/water-management">CS Energy: Water Management</a></li>
</ul>
POST PUBLISHING NOTE:
During the episode it is stated that the Emergency Diesel Generator was running under no load as it could not connect to the Unit C4 Emergency 415V Switchboard. As stated it could not connect to the Unit C4 415V Emergency Board and it remained dead, however as there was DC power in the Station section, it was powering the Station Emergency Board and was therefore running under some, minimal load. The Bus Tie between the Station 415V Emergency Board to the Unit C4 Emergency Board was left open when cross-feeding was possible.
Additionally the DC Lube Oil and Generator Seal Oil Pumps were not specified if they were connected to the Main or Distribution DC Bus. If connected to the Main Bus, the ACS change-over would not have re-energised them, although reclosing the interconnector, or closing the battery breaker would have.
Support Causality on <a rel="payment" href="http://patreon.com/johnchidgey" title="Causality on Patreon"> Patreon</a>Episode Gold Producers:
 'r' and Steven Bridle.Episode Silver Producers:
 Mitch Biegler, Shane O'Neill, Lesley, Jared Roman, Joel Maher, Katharina Will, Chad Juehring, Kellen Frodelius-Fujimoto and Ian Gallagher.

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