Mt Piper Power Station opened its doors on Sunday, April 15, to celebrate 25 years since its opening.
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Community groups and residents took the opportunity to tour the station and learn about some of the station’s current projects like the Springvale Water Treatment Plant and the proposed waste recovery plan.
Mayor Stephen Lesslie, MP Paul Toole and EnergyAustralia’s head of energy Mark Collette took a tour of the power station lead by Leo Smith, who has been running tours of the station over the quarter-century it has been operating.
EnergyAustralia said 600 people took walking tours of the station on the day, joined by another 180 on the bus and train tour.
The end of the celebrations was marked by the announcement of the winners of EnergyAustralia’s $15,000 donation. Attendees were asked to vote between three community groups selected by Lithgow City Council: Portland Pool, the Portland Community Group’s Spring Fair and the Portland Business Chamber’s Christmas Festival.
President of Portland Pool Shane Taylor accepted the $15,000 donation after the votes were counted and the other two projects received $5000 each.
EnergyAustralia’s head of assets Julian Turecek hosted a presentation on EnergyAustralia’s proposal to implement an energy recovery facility at Mt Piper Power Station using rubbish to increase the efficiency of the station.
He said that EnergyAustralia is looking at how the plan could incorporate Lithgow’s municipal waste, however, such a facility would not be commissioned until 2021.
The power station’s manager Malcolm Murphy said the region’s energy industry had a long life yet.
“Mt Piper was commissioned in 1993 and to this day remains one of the country’s most efficient coal-fired power stations, with the capacity to provide more than 1 million homes and businesses across New South Wales with affordable, reliable electricity,” Mr Murphy said.
“Mt Piper has had its share of challenges and the community’s support has meant we’ve never faced them alone. The open day is a chance to say thanks and make clear that the story of energy in this region has many more chapters to it yet.”