| Historical notes: | In about 1946 the Electricity Authority approved the construction of a new power station on lake Macquarie at Wangi Wangi by the department of Railways. Wangi Wangi was chosen for the site of what would be the biggest power station in the state for its water and coal. It was officially opened on 7th November 1958 after a construction and commissioning period lasting just on ten years. It was closed in 1986. Wangi power station was the first of the big coalfields power stations, and for a few years was the biggest power station in New South Wales. (Wangi Power Station: Conservation Management Plan by EJE Architecture, Jan 2000)
Wangi Power Station was the first large coalfields power station in the Hunter Region, and so originated marked changes in the mining of coal, in the use of coal within the Region, and in employment and population distribution in the Region. Wangi Power Station marked the arrival of power stations in the Lake Macquarie district, which ever since has been, and still is, dominated by the power generation industry.
Wangi Power Station transformed a small, fairly isolated retirement or holiday settlement into a large multi-national construction camp for nearly 10 years. After commissioning, Wangi Power Station was by far the most important source of employment and income in the district for about 25 years, and so became the focal point of the Wangi Wangi and surrounding community. (Wangi Power Station Heritage Study C& MJ Doring 1990)
The following information is copied with permission from the author Fetscher, Mark, The Power Makers: the Evolution of the Coal Fired Power Station in New South Wales, 2018.
Wangi was the last of the Railway power stations and was constructed in two sections as dictated by a change of ownership and a change in technology. The staircase in the administration building and Control House building were of a grand design and the overall design was the last expressions in the pride of workmanship that the Department of Railways put into their power stations.
Wangi also pioneered a new way of constructing power stations; the first unit was in service as construction work proceeded on the later generating units. Up until this time large near empty buildings were constructed and were filled with boilers and steam-turbo alternators as the demand for electricity increased.
Originally known as Lake Macquarie Power Station, this mixture of pre-war and post-war technology was once the largest producer of electricity in New South Wales.
The 330 MW power station dominated electricity generation for almost a decade. It rescued the state on one memorable occasion and was called upon in its old age to again step up and support the beleaguered power system. Wangi Power Station's day of glory occurred on the night of 10 June 1964 when by the virtue of its stoker-fired boilers whose fires remained alight, was able to start the restoration of the State Grid after a major system failure.
The power station had its origins in 1937 when the Electrical Branch of the Department of Railways conceived an idea of electrifying the principle rail routes in New South Wales.
Myers presented his proposal formally April 1941 when he suggested to the Electricity Advisory Committee that in the general survey of major power station proposals being prepared for the Committee, that consideration be given to locating a large power station at Wangi Wangi to act as a base-load station jointly for the cities of Sydney and Newcastle.
The Wangi Power Station project generated at great deal of coverage in the press. It was the great hope to cure the crippling post-war power shortages and was the largest power station under construction in Australia.
Civil engineering work commenced at the Wangi site in 1948, with the earliest work started on the deviation of Wangi Creek, which flowed through the site to a new concrete channel and then joined the cooling water outfall canal. Civil design work had not yet been completed and as late as 1949 drawings for the power station buildings were still being signed by the Railway's Chief Civil Engineer Major-General Fewtrell.
Work began on a 577 metre long horseshoe-shaped tunnel to bring cooling water from Myuna Bay into the power station. This tunnel was dug with old, 1900 era, steam-driven air compressors powering pneumatic drilling equipment. These were apparently kept in store for such an occasion and also, quite astoundingly, work was also carried out with hand tools. Problems were encountered during the construction, and part of the tunnel had to be lined with concrete a second time.
Coal for the new power station would travel along a 10.4 kilometre railway branch line from the newly developed State Mine at Awaba. Opening in 1947, Awaba was the second State Mine developed after that established at Lithgow many years before.
Hundreds of workers converged on Wangi Wangi, initially miners (Awaba and Newstan) camping on holidays, then construction workers to build the power station. They were housed on a hill opposite the station. The Railway Department built single and married quarters, also a large tent city sprang up nearby. Many people from around the Hunter Valley moved to Wangi, but also post-war European immigrants, predominantly Italian, worked on this site as others worked on the Snowy Mountains projects also being constructed at this time. There was much interaction between the workers and the residents of Wangi village.
The first pair 50 MW generating units were ordered on 17 September 1948 and the first four boilers on 7 October 1948.
The next generator (No.3) and pair of boilers (3A & 3B) were ordered on the 3 June 1949 and 30 June 1949 respectively.
The final three turbo-generators and six boilers were ordered in early 1951. The plant was of large scale and a high turbine house floor level of twenty-six feet (7.9 metres) above the basement floor was provided as space for the large condensers.
A second coal source for the power station was acquired in 1951 when the Joint Coal Board took over the financially troubled Newstan Colliery.
A new marshalling yard was constructed that trailed a short rail connection to the south to allow coal trains to be worked to the Awaba branch line. During 1957 Newstan Colliery supplied coal to the power station for the first time as production levels started to increase.
Work on the first concrete chimney started on 7 April 1951 by Arcos Constructions Pty Ltd. The sixteen-sided circular chimneys have an internal diameter of 6 metres and a height of 76 metres.
The first steelwork was supplied by Sir William Arrol & Co. of Glasgow and was erected in early August 1952 after some 8359 tonnes of steel had been accepted from Glasgow.
The other civil contractors were Dorman Long, The Electric Power Transmission Co., F. Compton and Sons, Norman King and Partners and James Wallace & Co.
In accordance with the Electricity Commission Act of 1950 the Lake Macquarie (Wangi) Power Station was taken over by the Electricity Commission of New South Wales from the Railway Department on 1 January 1953. However the Railway Department remained for the time being, the constructing authority with 500 employees and another 100 men from different contractors on the site. Each pair of boilers was designed to be under the command of one Boiler Attendant and one Assistant Plant Operator; Turbine Attendants controlled the turbine plant.
The generators and switchyard were under the control of the Electrical Control Room Operators. This was the operating style of all the departmental generating stations.
The station as originally designed with stoker-fired boilers and interconnection with each boiler provided a flexibility to match the changing demand characteristics of a railway traction load.
The final generating unit was synchronised at 10.58 a.m. on the 6 November 1957 with boiler 3A. The final boiler, 3B, was brought into service during February 1958.
During 1958 Number 4 unit of 'B' Station was installed and at 60 MW was the largest generating machine in Australia. No. 4 entered service at 12.30 p.m. on 1 June 1958 and used steam supplied by a temporary line from the 'A' Station boilers until No. 4 boiler was commissioned in April 1959.
Number 4 boiler suffered a fuel explosion in the furnace in July 1959, and suffered distortion and leakage in the area of the economiser. It was repaired and re-entered service in August.
Number 5 alternator and boiler entered service at 2.15 p.m. on the 2 November 1959 at and the last unit Number 6, on 24 August 1960.
The Premier of New South Wales, Mr. J. J. Cahill officially opened Lake Macquarie (Wangi) Power Station on 7 November 1958. The official name did not last long for it was changed to Wangi Power Station in 1959.
Water supplies were stored in three 2.27 million-litre storage tanks on the hill at the rear of the station. The cooling water tunnel, 577 metres long, had a cross sectional area of 3.65 metres by 4.1 metres and drew water from Myuna Bay1.
A second cooling water tunnel was commenced late in the construction phase to augment the cooling water supply.
The original tunnel now called No. 1 tunnel, could maintain a flow of only 454 600 litres of water a minute which was barely enough to supply the 'A' station let alone the second section.
A much larger tunnel was dug in a much shorter time using modern methods. The No. 2 tunnel emerged from an excavated section of hill near the No. 3 chimney and was made serviceable in 1960.
Three rotary intake screens were erected and the tunnel was capable of a 1 360 800 litre flow a minute. The tunnel had a circular roof and was 3.95 metres by 3.95 metres. At full load Wangi Power Station used some 19.3 m3/second of cooling water.
A rectangular concrete canal discharged cooling water into Wangi Bay. The canal at the power station was 6 metres wide by 3.6 metres deep. This canal ran some 365 metres where it widened to 15.8 metres and then ran another 365 metres where it discharged into the bay.
The 'A' Station consisted of six Babcock & Wilcox 'High Head Boilers' type and three Parsons three-cylinder tandem compound steam turbines. The 'B' Station consisted of three Babcock & Wilcox 'Radiant' type single-drum water-tube boilers instead of the six Babcock & Wilcox 'High Head' boilers originally proposed, and three Parsons three-cylinder tandem compound steam turbines.
The completed power station of 330 MW full load capacity made a fine sight and the station had been designed and built to a high engineering standard.
The main building, of red brick construction, was 228 metres long by 53.3 metres wide and 41 metres high, contained rows of bronze, double mullioned windows, and the entire roof was made of precast concrete. The roofline was almost symmetrical when viewed from the front. When seen from the rear, the higher roof of the bigger 'B' station boiler house was obvious. The high, curved office block of six stories was constructed on the end of the turbine house, and the workshops on the end of the 'A' station boiler house. The total length of the complex was 291 metres and the total cost of the finished station was some (Pounds)30 million.
By 1961 Wangi Power Station had taken the crown from Pyrmont Power Station as the largest producer of power in New South Wales, although there was a close rivalry with Tallawarra Power Station. The latter station only managed to exceed Wangi's output in 1962.
Wangi 'A' Power Station was operated at 78.8 per cent load factor while Wangi 'B' was the highest in the state and was loaded to 83.1 per cent in 1961. In the 1960-61 financial year Wangi Power Station generated 2305 706 000 kWh (2305.7 GWh) or 30 per cent of the state's thermal output.
In 1964 the station reached its pinnacle when it generated 2439.713 GWh, consumed 1.2 million tonnes of coal and was home to around 400 employees. With the closure of the older portion of Zaara Street Power Station many of the displaced employees were transferred to Wangi Power Station.
DECLINE
As output began to rise from the newer and larger power stations, production and operating time was progressively cut back at Wangi's 'A' station until the mid 1970s when it was hardly used at all.
The reduction in coal consumption in the late 1960s affected Newstan Colliery in that the demand for coal had been greatly diminished; management had to find new markets to keep the colliery an economic operation. Salvation came in the shape of an overseas export trade and the coal was transported to Port Waratah by rail, hauled mainly by New South Wales Government Railways owned 60 Class Beyer-Garrett steam locomotives. Because the rail access to the colliery faced the south and the trains had to head north, the trains were backed out of the colliery and the locomotives had to storm the steeply graded Fassifern Bank from a standing start. This spectacular show became an international event as travellers from all over the world came to watch. Wangi 'B' station output declined in the late 1960s as production was no longer kept at high levels at all hours of the day.
In the late 1960s/70s throughout NSW there were labour disputes calling for a 35 week and associated issued. Delegates and workers of Wangi Power Station demanded a site allowance to compensate for the expense involved in travelling the long distance between Wangi Power Station and their homes in the Newcastle area. They prepared a very good and well documented case and arranged an inspection tour of the area. Action backing their claim included several strikes by Wangi workers. A deputation met the Premier seeking a 35-hour week and four weeks' annual leave. This was not to be last of strike actions at Wangi Power Station, with most of the strikes being about the 35-hour week, holidays, sick leave, and working conditions. Some strikes lasted several weeks. During such strikes the community bound together with donations of food. Wangi was heavily unionised. (these excerpts from Australian Left Review - August-September, 1969 article "Shop Committees and Workers Control" by Harry Webb, and Remembering Wangi Power Station - Oral Histories, Bill Bottomley, March 2016)
In 1975 the station was reduced from base load to intermediate load status. The branch line played host to the last Government steam locomotive in service when, on 23 February 1973, locomotive 6042 hauled its last train from Awaba State Mine to the power station. In late 1973, due to the reduced amount of coal being consumed, the branch line became uneconomic to keep open and the transport of coal from Awaba State Mine passed to road haulage.
A TEST BED
In the mid 1970s fly ash fallout from Wangi power station was known to be causing environmental damage and polluting the surrounding areas. The problem ironically gave Wangi a new lease of life. The 'B' station was fitted with an early type of electrostatic precipitator, which was not very efficient for NSW coals.
The Electricity Commission had been experimenting since the mid 1960s with a more efficient method of flue gas cleaning called fabric filters at a pilot plant located at Tallawarra Power Station. The electrostatic precipitators were basically 'life-expired' by 1974, so it was decided to install this new method of dust collection at Wangi Power Station as a trial for large-scale application at the proposed Eraring Power Station.
The first filter containing 4032 bags was installed on Number 4 boiler in 1975. The old precipitator components were removed and the concrete housing of the old dust plant was retained for the new installation. The same type fabric filters were installed for use with boilers 5 and 6 in the following year and were known as the Ducon Micropul high-pressure Pulse-Jet type. These filters could not prevent continuing emissions of fly ash from the chimneys because the old concrete casings were used and excessive leakage was occurring between the casing and the new filter system.
In 1976 Mechanical Shaker-type fabric filters containing 3760 bags were installed for operational use with the 'A' station steam plant. These new filters replaced the original Prat Daniel Valmont mechanical collection system. They were much more successful than the 'B' station filters because complete new installations had been fitted.
When the stoker-fired boilers were traditionally shut down for an overnight period coal was heaped to induce slow burning fires called 'banking' on the grates. Although this procedure remained unchanged, there was an initial concern about oil fouling the filter bags during light off.
Wangi 'A' station was brought back into regular peak-hour operations and Wangi 'B' station was programmed to generally operate on two shifts, five days a week from 1978 onwards.
In the years of 1977 and 1979 there was an increase in output from both stations to meet the rising demand for power. In 1979 there were problems with the new generating units at Vales Point Power Station, which produced at sharp increase in generation from Wangi Power Station.
Wangi Station staff and management generally worked and lived in Wangi Wangi for many years. It was a very social working environment. Elcom provided a social club, holiday lets, Picnic Day and Sports Day, Christmas parties and art workshops and exhibitions with internationally renowned local artist, Sir William Dobell. (Remembering Wangi Power Station - Oral Histories, Bill Bottomley, March 2016)
AN OLD ANTIQUE AND A FINAL FLING IN DESPERATE TIMES
The Myuna Colliery was developed on land west of the power station to provide coal for the Eraring Power Station (5 kilometres to the west). The mine started in August 1979, with coal production commencing in 1982.
In the early 1980s the maintenance staff at Wangi Power Station was greatly reduced and this in turn limited the remaining life of the turbo-alternators.
The mechanical condition of the 'A' Station turbo-generators was virtually wrecked by the time of closure. The slides on which the cylinders moved during expansion and contraction would not move freely resulting in the distortion of the machines2.
Wangi Power Station lacked the political clout of Tallawarra and Wallerawang power stations as it was situated in an area where there were numerous power stations and the opportunity to absorb redundant workers.
With worn out plant Wangi Power Station enjoyed a sparkling renaissance in old age when it was called upon along with every other conceivable piece of generating equipment to help maintain the state's electricity needs after three large generating units failed at Liddell power station in November 1981.
The 'B' station was once again elevated to the status of a base-load station and was operated on two shifts, seven days a week.
Production levels increased at the old 'A' station as it was used as an intermediate-load-plant (still listed as a peak-load station).
The power station was in operation on weekends and the author remembers seeing both the 'A' and 'B' stations in operation one cold Saturday afternoon in July 1982. Wangi Power Station was badly needed during the power crises but it was costly to operate compared to the larger stations and output was cut back when the load was backed off during quiet times.
Although the plant was old and worn-out, it seemed that it could still achieve full output and on one occasion the 'A' Station was worked up beyond its normal maximum capacity and achieved 158 MW and the 'B' Station was operated up to its designed limit.
DYING DAYS
Wangi station was regarded as an antique, especially the old 'A' Station and ELCOM desired to replace it with the new Bayswater Power Station. The 'A' station ash plant and hoppers were in a poor condition. The feed heating plant was worn out and the 'A' units were run without the plant being in service.
By late 1982 the generating units at Liddell Power Station were again in service and with one unit operating at the new Eraring Power Station the power shortage situation was greatly eased.
Wangi 'A' could generate electricity at the rate of 15 MW per employee per shift and this figure compared to 22 MW per employee at Wangi 'B'. These figures were paled in comparison to the 73 MW per employee at Vales Point 'A' Power Station, 140 MW at Munmorah and 200 MW per employee at Liddell Power Station.
In early 1983 it was broadcast on NBN Television that the old power station would be put on standby and peak-hour supply duties by the end of the year.
During 1984 Number 4 unit had amassed 147 582 service-hours and had achieved the highest record among the ELCOM stations. Unit 1 had achieved 112 811 service hours, Unit 2: 99 883 service hours, Unit 3: 107 668 service hours, Unit 5: 139 994 and Unit 6: 139 915 service hours.
As retirement approached the old plant regained some importance as a test site for development of new technology. The pulverised-fuel-fired boilers underwent research and demonstration trials using a high-energy plasma arc-ignition to light off pulverised coal to eliminate the need to use expensive oil fuel.
During the years of 1984-86 one unit from each section of the station was usually run up on a weekly test to keep the machinery operational when the power station was idle during long periods on standby duties.
The 'A' station was retired from service on 7 March 1985 bringing an end to the era of the Railway power stations. The 'B' station closed on the 31 October 1986, although it remained as a stand-by plant.
The power station was formally decommissioned on 31 April 1989. In thirty years of operation Wangi Power Station had produced 36 181.16 GWh of electricity and consumed some 20 million tonnes of coal. In retirement Wangi Power Station remained in use as a training centre for Commission personnel and a switching centre for the transmission of power in the Newcastle area. These operations came to an end when a new sub-station was constructed at the Newcastle suburb of Warabrook in 1991-92.
(Copied with permission from the author - Fetscher, Mark, The Power Makers: the Evolution of the Coal Fired Power Station in New South Wales. 2018)
In 1990 Elcom started trading as Pacific Power and corporatised as Pacific Power in 1995. In 1992, the coal mines owned and operated by Pacific Power (including Myuna) were split off into a new government organanisation called Powercoal.
From 1995-97 the generating plant was stripped out of the station building, external infrasctruture, buildings and facilities were removed and a costly asbestos removal and site remediation project was undertaken. In 1998 Pacific Power divested Lots 3 and 4 DP 810981 to NPWS and Centennial Coal (respectively) redistributed the boundaries of the main power station (now Lot 101 DP 880089) and Myuna Colliery (now Lot 100 DP 880089) and sold the main power station by Public Tender to Brisbane-based I.J. McDonald & Sons for commercial redevelopment. Managing director Ian McDonald planned to build 100 apartment units, a 3 and a half star motel, shopping arcade, cinemas and offices within the massive brick building. Mr McDonald pursued negotiations with the Lake Macquarie City Council and the Heritage Council of NSW. Upon the death of Mr McDonald's these plans have failed to be revived. The company, at the time of writing (2018) was looking to wrap up all operations including Wangi Power Station.
In 2002 Centennial Coal acquired Powercoal and thus Myuna Colliery. In 2003 Pacific Power divested Lot 2 DP 810981 to Crown Lands and sold off Lots 5 and 6 DP 810981 (formerly location of a transmission tower north of Donnelly Road) for residential development. |