An update on Callide C3 (back online) and Callide C4 (still offline)

We’ve fielded a few calls and questions about these units in the past week or so … hence thought it worth a more broadly accessible update.

 

About Callide C3

Remember that this unit:

1)  came offline since 31st October 2022 following a cooling tower failure, and

2)  came back online on 1st April 2024 (518 days later)

Given one of the questions we received was (this afternoon) about how the unit was performing, I thought it was worth sharing this snapshot from the ‘Bids & Offers’ widget within ez2view focused on the CPP_3 unit at 15:45 this afternoon, and looking back 11 days.

2024-04-11-at-15-45-ez2view-BidsOffers-CPP3

We see in the chart that (as of Thursday afternoon) it was almost exactly 10 days since the unit started to return to service (on Monday 1st April 2024):

1)  the unit has progressively increased its output (currently sitting at 320MW);

2)  most of the time bidding down at –$1,000/MWh at the RRN;

3)  with many rebids mentioning ‘condenser back pressure’.

4)  As noted in this article on 25th March, the expectation was that the unit would be fully available on 11th April (i.e. today), but note:

(a)  We can’t see the Availability in the bid for today yet, because it’s part of the ‘next day public’ data set;

(b)  But we can see the output this afternoon is not back to 466MW

… not that you’d expect it to be given the rooftop PV juggernaut that’s carving out an increasing share of daytime Underlying Consumption.

PS on Sat 13th April 2024

Worth pointing out to readers here that CS Energy posted this short update on LinkedIn about the operations in the days since return to service.

 

About Callide C4

Remember that this unit:

1)  came offline on 25th May 2021 when the turbo-generator exploded (thankfully with no casualties, but with major impacts on the grid and the financial performance of the station), and

2)  is still offline today

Given other questions have been about return-to-service expectations for this unit, I thought it useful to provide the current view (as of 16:15 this afternoon) of the MT PASA DUID Availability forecast in that widget in ez2view:

2024-04-11-at-16-15-ez2view-MTPASADUID-CPP4

With this widget we see that:

1)  The expectation is:

(a)  An initial return to service date of 30th June 2024 at part-load; and then

(b)  Back to full availability about a month later (on DD July 2024).

2)  So, in other words, no change since this update on 15th January 2024.

 

Nothing further, at this point.

 


About the Author

Paul McArdle
One of three founders of Global-Roam back in 2000, Paul has been CEO of the company since that time. As an author on WattClarity, Paul's focus has been to help make the electricity market more understandable.

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