The shutdown of Australia’s coal-fired power plants is on the horizon – but it’s not here just yet. Until then, the way we manage these assets will lay the foundation for the future of the energy sector and underpin the stability of the transition.
By 2038, the AEMO forecasts that all the country’s remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut down. But while this era of energy is drawing to a close, the National Electricity Market will still depend on these assets for the next few years while new renewable generation is developed.
In the interim, managing these assets requires a considered and purposeful approach –we need to ensure that they can continue to meet our energy needs, but investment in retiring assets is strategic and has to be future-focused to support and firm renewable generation.
To achieve this equilibrium, power generators need support from partners that not only share their goals, but who will be there alongside them throughout the journey with a mutual desire for long-term success.
It all depends on trust, and for EnergyAustralia and Service Stream that meant transcending traditional contract models and adopting a more collaborative approach to manage an ash repository at the Mt Piper power station in New South Wales.
Today’s decisions, tomorrow’s outcomes
Mt Piper Power Station was the very last coal-fired plant built by the now abolished Electricity Commission of New South Wales, and Service Stream has been a part of the fabric of the business since the first unit came online in 1993.
The asset consists of two coal-fired steam turbine generators that generate up to 1430MW of electricity by heating steam using a coal-fired boiler – which creates ash as a byproduct.
As long as electricity is being produced, ash is being created – and, as the operations, maintenance and construction contracting partner, it’s Service Stream’s role to take this ash from the hoppers and place it into the repository or send it offsite for other use.
When EnergyAustralia acquired the Mt Piper Power Station in 2013 from Delta Electricity it saw a need to ensure that this ash was managed in a sustainable manner, and a new ash placement area in Lamberts North was created.
Every day since, Service Stream’s trucks have carried significant volumes of ash to be stored at the Lamberts North Ash Repository. The consistent ash production means there is an ongoing need to manage storage capacity – and while fly ash can be repurposed in many ways, including, road bases, agricultural applications and other construction activities, a large amount of this byproduct still needs to be stored until such time as the power station is no longer operational.
EnergyAustralia and Service Stream came together and found that the key to navigating this project was to break away from traditional contract structures.
We’re in this together
The teams needed to ensure the repository was constructed and filled in a way that was not only geotechnically stable but ensured that significant weather events and extreme rainfall were strategically managed to continue protecting the environment.
Ensuring on-time delivery was just as critical to their joint success, and given the complexities of the project it was necessary that Service Stream, as both the construction and the operations and maintenance partner, proactively collaborated with EnergyAustralia as well as the project’s designer.
Service Stream shared its extensive site experience to ensure the project was designed and constructed in a way that addressed the logistical requirements of the site – including the placement and management of the ash, and how bulk material handling machines would operate around the new cells.
To embrace circular economy principles, EnergyAustralia sought to use operational ash in the project’s construction materials wherever possible – and the ash was incorporated as part of construction base instead of using an external fill.
Simply aligning construction activities with operational outputs posed challenges to the construction, as any time station generation was low, less material would be generated, impacting the construction program.
So, the teams came together and found an innovative solution: reclaiming material from the existing repositories. Not only did this reinforce the construction process, but it also created additional capacity in the existing operating repository.
Additionally, to meet the operational needs of the station, the construction sequence of cell release was adjusted periodically to achieve the capacity requirements of the site.
Navigating these complexities requires a foundation of trust between partners. In more traditional construction contracts, risk is typically managed on either side of the agreement.
However, in this case EnergyAustralia and Service Stream adopted a contract model that was grounded in performance-based outcome management.
This incentivised the parties to share challenges early and align the solutions of both organisations.
This kind of collaborative framework leads to something very special – unlocking, true best-for-project decision making and encouraging the partner organisations to actively manage the risk and the asset outcomes as effectively as they can on behalf of the asset owner.
In for the long haul
In Service Stream’s case, the company had more than three decades to build trust and familiarity and to understand its partner’s needs. Business objectives evolve and people come and go, so it’s no small feat to maintain an on-site relationship for that length of time.
But for Service Stream, the secret to unlocking collaborative frameworks is not that complex.
Service Stream General Manager (Energy), Benjamin Chapman, said that Service Stream places immense value in its position as a trusted partner to EnergyAustralia and the Mt Piper operation.
“It is crucial to us to bring a full lifecycle view to the table when we interact in critical projects such as the Lamberts North Ash Repository,” he said.
“We ensure that we engage in a transparent manner with our partners so that we can make informed decisions to ensure successful outcomes for everyone.”
For all parties involved, the Lamberts North cell construction project met its time, quality, cost, safety and operability goals, and this integrity, accountability and alignment between partners was the key to its success.
For more information, visit servicestream.com.au.
