Callide B1 back online Wednesday afternoon, 16th June
A short note to follow up on the welcome return-to-service of Callide B1.
2021 – 25th May – Callide C4 Explosion, Fire and Outage
A collection of articles that began on Tuesday 25th May 2021, when Callide C4 unit exploded, which:
1) Led to loss of supply from sister units Callide C3, and B2 and B1 – but also others close
2) And also blackouts for a sizeable amount of Queensland due to under-frequency load shedding
3) And a very long repair process
4) Hence some concerns about the supply-demand balance, and prices
5) And an insolvency of one of the JV owners
6) There also was a lengthy process to report on the original cause of the explosion.
In this category we collate an expanding range of articles related to one or more of the above.
Availability of Black Coal units has suffered through Q2 2021
The volatility that has been with us for weeks now (particularly QLD and NSW), and the dramas unfolding at Callide power station, prompted me to have a broader look at the availability of black coal plant across QLD and NSW, and compare this to prior Q2 periods.
Where’s Callide B1?
With expectations set last week that Callide B1 would be back online yesterday at minimum load, I’ve had a quick look and can’t see it yet…
Further delays in RTS for Callide B1 and C3 (earlier for B2)
A short note about some further delays in return to service for Callide B1 and C3 … though earlier return for B2
Discussion about electricity prices – following the Callide C4 Catastrophe
Discussion in a number of different places (including an AFR article today) prompted me to pull some data together of how (spot and futures) prices have trended through 2021, and how they changed with the Callide C4 problems.
Administered Pricing reached for Raise 6 second (Contingency) FCAS in Queensland
High Contingency FCAS prices (Raise 6 second) in response to what’s happened at Callide Power Station drove the Cumulative Price to (6 times) the Cumulative Price Threshold. Administered Pricing began Saturday evening for QLD.
Spot market volatility report – Thursday 3rd June 2021 (as at 17:54)
Evening spot price volatility has become a regular thing – here’s some of it for Thursday 3rd June 2021
AEMO estimates it paid $11,612.33/MWh for Reserve Trader on Tuesday 25th May 2021 in QLD
A short note, following AEMO reporting estimated costs for RERT (Reserve Trader) on Tuesday 25th May 2021 in QLD.
Josh Stabler highlights possible issues with supply of replacement turbine for Callide C4
On LinkedIn this afternoon, Josh Stabler (of Energy Edge) identified another consideration for the repair process for the significantly damaged Callide C4 steam turbine.
Gas-fired generation up following the Callide C4 Catastrophe
A client sent in this ez2view image this afternoon pointing out another factor that’s been occurring in the absence of 4 x Callide units – markedly increased production from gas-fired generation.
Ten Years of Performance History for Callide C4, from the GSD2020
In order to assist discussions on social media about what’s been happening with Callide C4 over the past 10 years, using the GSD2020 I’ve published some actual detailed performance metrics.
AEMO releases Preliminary Report: Trip of multiple generators and lines in Queensland and associated under-frequency load shedding on 25 May 2021
The AEMO has released its 22-page Preliminary Report into the Callide C4 Catastrophe and the subsequent events.
Initial look at System Strength constraints (curtailing north QLD Solar and Wind) in Event 3 on Tuesday 25th May 2021
We’ve started exploring the constraint data from the QLD region for back on Tuesday 25th May 2021 (with the Callide C4 catastrophe) and here’s some initial information.
Some good information about what happened with Callide C4 inside the AFR today
A note of thanks to Mark Ludlow at the AFR for the compilation of some great initial information about what happened at Callide C4 unit just over a week ago (on Tue 25th May 2021).
Updated list of events on 25th May 2021 that we’ll be investigating – time permitting
For ease of future reference, here is the list of events that occurred on Tuesday 25th May 2021 … as we (currently) see them.
Price Volatility (now a regular evening event for QLD and NSW) on Tuesday 1st June kicked along by Darling Downs outage.
A number of things happened late today – with the trip of DDPS1 (only declare credible contingency earlier in the day) giving more impetus to spot price volatility in the QLD and NSW regions already facing tight supply/demand following the Callide catastrophe and LOR1 in NSW.
Delayed Return to Service for Callide B1, B2 and C3
First short article for Tuesday evening following report from CS Energy that the return to service
First pass review of bidding behaviour on Tuesday 25th May 2021 in Queensland, after Event 2
This evening I’ve taken a first pass look at how QLD generators bid on Tuesday 25th May 2021, in response to the tight supply/demand balance created by the Callide C4 outage and cascade of events.
Plenty of things went wrong in Queensland last Tuesday, but some very important things went right
Whilst there were many things that went wrong on Tuesday 25th May 2021 (last week), guest author Allan O’Neil highlights that there were at least 4 things that went right – contributing to a much less severe outcome than would otherwise have been the case.
Callide C Catastrophic Failure
Carl Daley from EnergyByte, provides more insight into the events of last Tuesday, which culminated in widespread blackouts throughout Queensland.