The painstaking job of preparing Liddell Power Station for demolition is a bit like cleaning out a house after 50 years, according to the man overseeing the site's transformation.
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Brad Williams, AGL's program director of site transition is aiming to have the former coal-fired generator turned into a "cold, dark and dry" shell by the end of the year. It will then be handed over to the demolition contractor.
The plant was isolated from the main grid soon after shutting down in April.
Since then it has been scrubbed inside and out to remove dirt and debris that has accumulated over the past half a century.
In addition to cleaning, more than a million litres of transformer and turbine oil has been drained from the plant and recycled.
"Our goal is to remove as many hazards to people and the environment as we can," Mr Williams said.
"Huge amounts of dust have built up across the power station. That is all being washed down so that when we demolish it we will minimise the amount of dust that is created."
About 200 workers have been involved in the project to date.
"We are about 70 per cent of the way through and on track to complete the decommissioning in January," Mr Williams said.
Demolition approvals are still being finalised, however, it is expected that demolition contractor Delta will commence clearing the site in April next year.
The plant contains about 70,000 tonnes of metal, including 3000 tonnes of highly valuable non-ferrous metals such as copper and chromium. By comparison, the Sydney Harbour Bridge contains only 50,000 tonnes of steel.
There's also about 120,000 tonnes of concrete that will be crushed and recycled.
The money made from recycling materials will help offset the $225 million that AGL has budgeted for decommissioning and demolition works.
"Demolition at this scale needs to follow a sequence. We need to clear a fair amount of land before we can bring in the 125 tonne excavator," Mr Williams said.
"All the administration and store buildings and the workshops will be cleared first. But before we do that, we need to remove any hazardous material, particularly asbestos, or asbestos containing material.
"After the smaller scale demolition is taken care of we will move onto the larger scale work involving the chimneys and the boilers."
The final step in the process will be the demolition of the turbine hall.
Another part of the decommissioning process involves the rehabilitation of the ash dam.
"We are basically moving about a million cubic metres of dirt over the top of the ash dam. There's about 130 hectares and we have capped about 20 hectares," Mr Williams said.
AGL last year signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate opportunities to recycle coal ash from the nearby Bayswater power station.
Mr Williams said the company was also open to future possibilities to recycle material from the Liddell ash dam.
"It is certainly possible but the quality and consistency of the ash from Liddell is different to the ash from Bayswater. Because Liddell is an older plant it has a bit more coal material that goes through into the ash."
AGL has also formed a partnership with Arts Upper Hunter and Upper Hunter Homeless Support as part of the Liddell decommissioning and demolition projects.
About $2000 was recently raised as a result of repurposing an unused Liddell baghouse filter that was destined for landfill.
"The supplier actually found an aluminium plant in Brazil that could possibly use them. They are going to recut them suit. In doing so they have given us a $2000 donation for our charity partner," Mr Williams said.
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Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
