AGL marked a significant milestone in May, not only in its history but in the Upper Hunter’s, with the successful demolition of the Liddell Power Station chimney stacks. The 170-metre stacks stood tall at the power station for more than 50 years, but with the site closed their time came to an end.
Weeks, years of planning, came down to a 10-second event to safely bring the 7000 tonne stacks of brick and concrete down. Hundreds of holes were drilled into each chimney, packed with explosives and blown up on May 26th.
With no public viewing of the stacks coming down, locals packed into the Muswellbrook RSL Club and a select few settled in at the Liddell Recreation Area to see the moment unfold.
Among them were Margaret and David Channon who met while working at the power station, were married and have three children. The power station work was passed down to one of their sons Jackson who also spent time working at Liddell.
Margaret started working at Liddell in 1978 in the payroll section, but it didn’t take long for her to realise she’d have far more fun in the workshop.
“I realised working at a desk wasn’t my cup of tea! So, I moved into the workshop floor and progressed to a TA, I became a union delegate as well, which I loved being part of.
“My father worked out there for a long, long time too and he never thought I would last! I was working one day doing bunker trimming, so you have an air hose making sure no coal is sticking to the bunker below you, and someone walked up to my father and said to him, ‘she’s covered head to tow in coal and she’s working her butt off!’
“I loved working there and I say this to everyone, females weren’t employed in any industry until we started getting jobs out here, most girls came and started in the office and then went out into the workshops like I did,” Margaret reflected.
David started as an apprentice three years after Margaret started at Liddell, moving from Armidale for the job.
“I saw David a couple of times at work,” Margaret smiled.
“Two of my close female friends were electricians and they introduced us. We were always at parties and drinks after work so we met that way.”
Margaret stayed at Liddell for 14-and-a-half years until she took a redundancy, while David moved over to Bayswater and worked there until he decided to get a job at a local coal mine. Their son Jackson also ended up going to Bayswater where he still works today.
David spent 17 years working at Liddell and then Bayswater.
“Liddell was the biggest power station in Australia once, it was always going to be a lot of feelings for us with the chimney stacks coming down, and it’s been a major part of the skyline here for all my life, it’s been iconic.
“We hope the place becomes the energy hub they’re saying it will. The additional employment for people like Jackson to be able to stay employed in the local area and use their trades. The mining industry isn’t finite anymore, there will eventually be changes so we need another avenue of employment for our young people,” he said.
Muswellbrook Shire Mayor Jeff Drayton said the day the stacks came down was one for the history books.
“You’d have to be as old as me to not remember when those stacks were there! Maybe today is a marker of where we’re headed in terms of energy transition, but I hope it’s a marker of a positive future.
“I remember as a kid going away on holidays and coming home up the highway you knew you were close to home when you spotted those stacks.
“There wouldn’t be anyone who has lived in the Muswellbrook community who hasn’t had someone they know who worked there – my father and my two boys worked there and that would be the same story for a lot of people.
Brad Williams, AGL General Manager, said the demolition of the stacks in partnership with CMA Contracting was a culmination of months, years of planning.
“I was a little bit emotional to be honest with you. It’s a symbolic moment for our team, our community and former employees. There’s lots of mixed emotions with the end of this power generation era here at Liddell.
“It been a huge task to get ready for such a big moment. I’m proud of the team and the work that has gone into it, and of the relationships we have built along the way.
“It all went according to plan. Now the process starts to clean up the debris associated with the chimneys; they are each about 7000 tonnes of brick and concrete. The rubble will be sampled and screened before it’s disposed of accordingly.
“Beyond the stacks coming down, we are continuing to dismantle the turbines inside the turbine hall and soon the boiler structure will come down in two halves – the first should be later this year,” he said.
Brad said the chimney stack demolition is a pivotal moment in the transition of the site with plenty of progress already made including the 500-megawatt battery in its final commissioning stages.
“For us, an integrated industrial energy hub could mean a variety of things which is exciting for the Hunter and for AGL. It’s part of our vision to reuse these sites. They’re ideal for development with flat land, access to water and roads. So, it’s important we repurpose them for the future,” Brad said.
