Vales Point Power Station is one of two operating

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

fired

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

s on the shores of

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of

Mannering Park Mannering Park is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area. It was formerly called Vales Point. Mannering Park has a public school, tennis courts, open basketball and netba ...

. It has two

steam turbines A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

, with a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW (1,770,000 hp) of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

. Vales Point was the first major power station in New South Wales to be located near its fuel source (coal). In November 2015, the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

sold

Delta Electricity Delta Electricity is an electricity generation company in Australia. The company was formed by the Government of New South Wales in 1996 as part of its reform of the electricity sector in the State, which saw the breakup of the Electricity Commi ...

, which at that time owned only the Vales Point Power Station, to Sunset Power International for $1 million. In 2017 it was valued at $732 million, and was estimated to make part-owner energy entrepreneur and former National Party candidate

Trevor St Baker Trevor Charles St Baker is an Australian businessperson with interests in power station and fuel supply development. He is director of the St Baker Energy Trust and chair of Sunset Power International (trading as Delta Electricity). He is found ...

a half billionaire. However, in December 2021, the value of the plant was cut to $156 million and the annual profit was reduced 93% to $9.3 million. The owner blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for reducing demand and an influx of cheaper renewables reducing wholesale electricity prices. In September 2022 Sunset Power owners announced the sale of Vales Point Power Station to a Czech family investment group Sev.En Global Investments.

A station

Vales Point was originally equipped with three turbo-alternators of 200 MW supplied by the

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

(unit nos. 1 to 3) and one of 275 MW supplied by

Associated Electrical Industries Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to c ...

(unit no. 4), for a total of 875 MW. The first two units were completed in 1963, and the third in 1964. Unit no. 4 was brought into use in 1966. In order to supply coal to the station, three mines were opened; Chain Valley Colliery, Newvale No.1 Colliery and Wyee State Mine. These four units were known as 'A' Station, its capacity of 875 MW being the highest in New South Wales at the time. Vales Point 'A' Station was decommissioned in 1989. The turbines were removed in 1997; the boilers and buildings were demolished between 2011–14.

B station

In 1978, two

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

660 MW units were added, becoming "B" Station. The combined capacity of 2195 MW made Vales Point the largest power station in Australia at the time. The Toshiba 660 MW turbo-alternator became the standard in New South Wales, with similar units later being installed at Eraring,

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

and

Mount Piper Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

. Vales Point uses salt water from Lake Macquarie for cooling. The coal for Vales Point is delivered by

conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

and a

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

connection to the

Main Northern railway line The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Central Coast, Hunter and New England regions. The line was the original main line between Sydney and Brisban ...

between Wyee and Morisset. The balloon loop opened in March 1980.

Carbon Monitoring for Action The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. History It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, direc ...

estimates this power station emits 9.32 million tonnes of

greenhouse gases A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...

each year as a result of burning hydrocarbon fuels.

Operations

The generation table use
eljmkt nemlog
to obtain generation values for each year. Records date back to 2011.

Excessive nitrogen oxide pollutants

As of 2021, the Vales Point Power Station emits more toxic nitrogen oxide pollutants than allowable under the

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Protection of the Environment Operations (Clean Air) Regulation 2021 in order to continue to legally operate (or otherwise cease operating), the operator applied for an exemption under its licence 761, which was granted on 15 December 2021 with a reduction variation and additional conditions imposed by the

New South Wales Environment Protection Authority The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is an independent statutory authority that sits in the Environment portfolio as part of the Planning, Industry and Environment cluster. The NSW EPA was established as an independent governing Board ...

In popular culture

Vales Point Power Station was used as the location for the

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...

'' US Forces'' music video.

References