Tarong Power Station

The Tarong Power Station is a coal fired power station located on a site in Tarong in the South Burnett Region near the Burnett River and Nanango, in Queensland, Australia. The station has a maximum generating capacity of 1,400 megawatts, generated from four turbines.Coal is supplied via a conveyor from Meandu Mine, which is 1.5km away and is also owned by Stanwell.Construction and designIt was decided to build a new power station at Tarong in 1978, with work beginning in the following year. Initially it was expecting to be operating by October 1985 but this date was bought forward by 17 months to cover the expected growth in demand. 1 Unit was commissioned in May 1984, with 2 Unit following exactly 12 months later. 3 Unit was commissioned in February 1986, and finally 4 Unit was commissioned just 9 months later in November 1986. Thus the accelerated construction program included bringing forward the dates but also compressing the timeline.The design included Queensland's first hyperbolic natural draught cooling towers which rise to 118 m. The power station has one chimney which is 20 m in diameter and rises 210 m. There are two control rooms. The total construction cost including water supply facilities was A$1,230 million.EmissionsThe power station is the site for a pilot project which is expected to reduce emissions by 1,000 tonnes per year by collected carbon dioxide from flue gases. The project will cost A$5 million and is being developed by CSIRO.