Mortlake Power Station in Victoria has been returned to service following a six-month outage due to a damaged generating unit in July 2019.
“In less than six months, we’ve been able to source, safely transport and install a 320-tonne replacement generator from the US before the peak summer electricity demand period,” Origin Executive General Manager Energy Supply and Operations, Greg Jarvis, said.
“The generator has been approved to operate and supply the market, albeit at restricted output until final regulatory testing is completed in the next two weeks.
“During these generator replacement works, we’ve also completed capacity improvements that will deliver more electricity to the system when it’s most needed. By injecting treated water into the gas turbine, we’re able to increase the capacity of each of the generators by up to 20 megawatts in hot weather conditions.
“Elsewhere, all of Origin’s generation plants across NSW, South Australia and Queensland have completed extensive maintenance and summer readiness programs to ensure peak performance and reliability during the summer months.”
One Mortlake generating unit was damaged by an electrical fault on 8 July 2019. It was expected to be returned to service on 30 December 2019.
Mortlake is a gas peaking power station with two generating turbines with an overall capacity of 566MW. The generating unit impacted by the July electrical fault represents less than 3 per cent of Victoria’s total installed generation capacity.
