Energy Australia Acquires Mt. Piper and Wallerawang Power Stations

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--In September 2013, Energy Australia announced the acquisition of the 1,320-megawatt (MW) Mt. Piper and 1,000-MW Wallerawang power stations and associated infrastructure in Australia, reinforcing its position as one of the largest integrated energy business in the country. The sale agreement was made between the state of New South Wales (NSW) and Delta Electricity (Sydney, NSW) for a net cash consideration of a $160 million in July 2013, followed by the transition process, which involved transfer of Delta West employees to Energy Australia.

Mt. Piper, which began commercial operations in 1993, is equipped with two 660-MW Toshiba Tandem Compound Reheat steam turbines, with water tube coal-fired boilers from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI). Mt. Piper is considered one of the newest and most efficient black-coal-fired power stations in NSW, while the Wallerawang has comparatively lower levels of efficiency and higher fixed costs.

Energy Australia Managing Director Richard McIndoe said the purchase of the two power stations would enable Energy Australia to operate the plants more flexibly to meet customer needs, while relieving the company of the high fixed costs it currently incurs under the Delta Western GenTrader Agreements, which the company entered into with Delta Electricity, in 2011.

The operations and maintenance for both plants will be performed by the same team from Delta, which will become employees of Energy Australia. The Wallerawang plant is currently operating only at 500 MW, as the 500-MW steam turbine No .7 has been shuttered due to inadequate demand for power in the region. Energy Australia plans to bring Unit 7 bank into operations next year, and perform two weeks of maintenance on both units at the power plant during same time in 2014. Each unit at Mt. Piper will undergo approximately four to five weeks of maintenance outage in the next two years. However, the new ownership changes could significantly alter the existing maintenance plans, which were drafted by Delta Electricity.

View Plant Profile - 1037328 1073369
View Project Report - 3001040901 300104849 300097435

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.