Hazelwood mine

The Hazelwood mine's brown coal reserve is sufficient to keep the Hazelwood Power Station producing a quarter of Victoria's electricity needs for the next 21 years and beyond. The two unit power station has already been operating since 1964 with the adjacent open cut mine producing 18 million tonnes of brown coal annually to keep the power station delivering 1,542 mega-watt into the state power grid. The Hazelwood mine also supplies coal to Energy Brix Australia, a Morwell briquette factory.

Coal Reserves at Hazelwood Mine Sufficient for Life of Power Stations

The power station at Hazelwood is fed with coal from the Hazelwood mine's west field, a necessity after the south east operation was mined out in 2005. The west field deposit being quite massive and able to keep supplying coal to the power station throughout the rest of the expected life of the power station.

Hazelwood Gone From Being the States Dirtiest to one of the State's Cleanest Power Stations

More than $1 billion has been invested in environmental initiatives at the Hazelwood mine and power station since 1996 resulting from it once being known as Victoria's dirtiest power station to one of the cleanest. The power station is now producing 10 percent less carbon emissions than it did prior to 1996. It is also the site where Australia's largest Carbon Capture and Storage plant has been established. A facility built to test the obtaining and holding of CO2 to allow it to be used at a later date for certain commercial applications. The Hazelwood mine and power station complex was completed in 1971 and today employs 540 staff directly as well as 300 contractors. Many hundreds more are employed during major maintenance shut downs.

Hazelwood Owned by one of the Worlds Largest Power Generators

The Hazelwood mine is owned by GDF SUEZ Hazelwood, a subsidiary of the international power giant GDF SUEZ Energy, the world's largest producer of generated energy. It is located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, 150 kilometres east of Melbourne. The power station and brown coal lignite mine covers an area of 3,554 hectares.

Ongoing Reduction of Carbon Emissions a Priority

In 1997 an internal coal storage facility was constructed at the mine along with the establishment of program whereby disused areas of the mine could be used as overburden dumps. Management has also been active in utilising its other mining products such as mineral ash for use in conditioning soils and kaolin for use in the ceramic industry. Investment is ongoing in the seeking of new technologies to further reduce carbon emission intensity.

The Hazelwood mine uses dredgers at the mine coal face. The coal is then transported by a large conveyor belt system, that exceeds 50 kilometres in total length and moves 2,500 tonnes every hour, to the power stations.

The Hazelwood mine and power stations have a strong social consciousness and are financially committed to the local community of Morwell and district. This support is shown in its generous giving of donations and its many sponsorships, as well as numerous in-kind support projects. To facilitate these aims it has formed a Hazelwood Community Council that evaluates the level of support that can be given, subject to the amount of money made available.