Michelle Slater
ENGIE is awaiting confirmation from the aviation regulator about the status of the former Hazelwood Power Station chimneys since the stacks were thrust into darkness.
The power station operator contacted the Civil Aviation Safety Authority several weeks ago to advise the regulator about the plant’s decommissioning activities.
Hazelwood Power Station director Wayne Buckley said they had told CASA the company was awaiting the demolition phase of the power station.
This comes as a member of the public raised concerns over whether CASA had been notified about any lighting on the stacks, at a public meeting ENGIE held on Wednesday night at the Italian Australian Club in Morwell.
“There have been no aviation lights on the chimneys since 2003. What was lit up since it closed was background lighting from the power station,” Mr Buckley said.
“Since we’ve isolated power supplies, it’s definitely darker than prior to decommissioning.”
Mr Buckley said Hazelwood’s eight stacks were due to be pulled down in late 2020 or 2021 following investigations into asbestos inside the chimneys.
“How we manage asbestos is a significant engineering challenge. It’s very difficult to get at it, particularly inside the chimneys,” Mr Buckley said.
“We will have to work with innovation with the contractor to determine how best to remove the asbestos prior them being brought down. This will be thought out before they start this removal.”
Mr Buckley said specialist contractors had been conducting annual inspections of the chimneys, to give condition reports and to mitigate potential risks such as falling concrete.
“It would require millions of dollars to invest in structural integrity to maintain the chimney long-term. It’s not economically viable as they are 50-plus years old and deteriorating every year,” he said.
“There is no business case to warrant spending that money to maintain them.”
