Playford A Power Station was the first power station built by the Electricity Trust of South Australia at Port Paterson, South Australia near Port Augusta. It was built in 1954 to generate electricity from coal mined from the Telford Cut at Leigh Creek and transported 250 kilometres (160 mi) by rail.
| Playford A Power Station | |
|---|---|
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 | |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Port Paterson, South Australia[1] |
| Coordinates | 32°32′20″S 137°46′55″E / 32.538886°S 137.781822°E |
| Status | Decommissioned |
| Commission date | 1954-1957 |
| Decommission date | 1985 |
| Construction cost | £10m |
| Operator | Electricity Trust of South Australia |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Sub-bituminous coal |
| Turbine technology | Steam turbine |
| Chimneys | 1 |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 90 MW |
It was joined by the Playford B Power Station in 1963, and the Northern Power Station in 1985.
The first unit of the power station was opened by Governor Robert George on 23 July 1954.[2] It was the first power station in South Australia which did not require the importation of fuel from interstate. It was expected to take a few years before all six units were operational.[3] The life of Playford A and B stations was expected to be 30 years, the supply of coal then known to be available from Leigh Creek.[4] Playford A was decommissioned in 1985, however the building remained until all three power stations were demolished in 2018.[5]
Flinders Power, a division of Alinta Energy, contracted out the demolition of all three power stations and remediating the site.[6] The demolition and 1068ha site rehabilitation was completed in May 2019.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Search result for "Port Paterson (Locality Bounded)" (Record no SA0040645) with the following layers being selected - "Suburbs and Localities" and "Place names (gazetteer)"". Government of South Australia. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ "Governor To Open New Power Station". The Advertiser. Vol. 97, no. 29, 882. South Australia. 23 July 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 29 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Many 'Firsts' In Power". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 97, no. 29, 882. South Australia. 23 July 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 29 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "New Unit In Electricity". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 97, no. 29, 882. South Australia. 23 July 1954. p. 12. Retrieved 29 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Environmental closure and post closure plan Augusta power stations" (PDF). Flinders Power Partnership. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2019 – via Environment Protection Agency of South Australia.
- ^ "Augusta Power Stations". Flinders Power. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
- ^ Spence, Andrew (10 May 2019). "Final curtain falls on SA's coal-fired era". InDaily. Retrieved 13 May 2019.