Gladstone power station
Gladstone Power Station (GPS) is Queensland's largest coal fired power station with a capacity of 1,680 megawatts. It was acquired from the Queensland Electricity Commission in 1994 by a joint venture comprising Rio Tinto Aluminium (42.125 per cent), three of its Japanese partners in Boyne Smelters Limited (SLMA GPS 8.5 per cent; Ykk GPS (Queensland) 4.75 per cent and Mitsubishi 7.125 per cent) and NRG, a US based energy provider (37.5 per cent). NRG Gladstone Operating Services manages the operation of the power station on behalf of the participants. The station provides power to BSL, which purchases approximately 50 per cent of the station's capacity, with the balance provided to the Queensland Electricity Grid. GPS commenced operation in 1976. The station has six generating units.
Location
The Gladstone region of Queensland (encompassing the city of Gladstone and nearby communities of Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Yarwun, Targinnie and Calliope) is located approximately 550 kilometres north of Brisbane. Gladstone is the location of one of Queensland's major ports, and is the site of existing industry including alumina refining and aluminium smelting, power generation, and various other manufacturing facilities. The Gladstone and Calliope Shires together have an estimated population of around 35,000 people. The Gladstone region has an average minimum temperature of about 18.4 and an average maximum of about 27.5 degrees.
Rio Tinto Aluminium has been involved in the Gladstone region community since 1963, when construction began on Queensland Alumina Limited, the world's largest alumina refinery. Proximity to a power supply (the Gladstone Power Station) and to the Queensland Alumina Limited refinery, prompted Rio Tinto Aluminium to select Boyne Island (20 kilometres south of Gladstone) as the location for its new smelting operation and in 1982 operations began at Boyne Smelters Limited. Existing infrastructure and a supportive community convinced Rio Tinto Aluminium again to choose the Gladstone region as the location for its new refinery project in 2001. The Rio Tinto Aluminium Yarwun refinery was commissioned in late 2004 at its site near Yarwun. Rio Tinto Aluminium purchased a share in the Gladstone Power Station when it was privatised in 1994.