This video on the Disposal of Power Station Ash was produced 30 years ago by the NSW Electricity Commission and is the product of research, development and experimentation undertaken by environmental and engineering staff of the Electricity Commission aimed at improving the efficiency and sustainability of coal-ash waste transportation and disposal methods of the Lake Macquarie power stations.
Constructed in the formerly undisturbed valley of Mannering Creek, the Vales Point power stations ash waste dump is 18 meters deep, spans 500 hectares and contains between 60-100 million tonnes of ash refuse which has been accumulating there for six decades now.
While there has been some progress towards the increase of beneficial coal-ash recycling and reductions in pollutants in recent years, we can't help but wonder what would have been, if the funding for this very kind of research didn't dry up after the privatisation of the NSW coal power fleet in 2014/2015 by the NSW Government.
Eraring power station has been owned and operated by Origin Energy since that time. As of May 2023, Brookfield Asset Management is in the process of a $20bn buyout of Origin Energy, with plans to invest in renewable energy sources.
The Vales Point station purchased by Sunset Power International in 2014/15, will continue trading as Delta Electricity after its sale to Czech mining and energy company, Se.ven in December of 2022.
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Learn more and get involved with our work on power station pollution impacts on the Lake Macquarie estuary at: [ Ссылка ]
