Hazelwood Power Station and Mine

In 2005 Hazelwood generated  11.4 million MW hours of electricity and consumed 16.7 million tonnes of brown coal from the Hazelwood mine.

In 1997 the station was one of the first signatories to the Commonwealth Government’s Greenhouse Challenge program, pre-dating the Kyoto Protocol.

As a participant in the Australian Greenhouse Office Generator Efficiency Standards, the business continues to address its obligations to reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions.

The annual cumulative abatement of CO2 during 2004 was 1.16 million tonnes of greenhouse gas and the total cumulative abatement from 1996 to 2004 was approximately 9 million tonnes of CO2.

Management and employees are committed to the Company’s environmental improvement plan which was created through consultation with local community representatives of the Environment Review Committee. Through this process the operation of the station and mine’s impact on the environment is assessed and managed effectively. 

This commitment to continuous environmental improvement has been recognised by the Australian Minerals & Energy Environment Foundation. In 2001 the station was awarded one of Australia’s most prestigious awards- the “Environmental Excellence Award for a Large Company”.

Environmental improvement programs completed to date include:

• The upgrading of the precipitators on eight of its generation units to reduce dust emissions
• The construction of a cooling water tower to reduce the temperature of water entering the Morwell River system
• The diversion away from natural water river systems of saline and alkaline wastewater
• The creation of 67 hectares of new wetlands, mining overburden rehabilitation, and a 15 hectare stand of native grasses
• The planting of 51,000 native trees and shrubs in the overburden dumps and mine area since 1990
• In 2005 3000 native trees and shrubs were planted along with 265.000 native grass viro cells bringing the native grass total plantings to 2.3 million.

The Hazelwood business also received a commendation for significant savings of greenhouse gas emissions in the 2000 Greenhouse Challenge Awards, and in 2005 was recognised through the “Large Business Award” for outstanding achievement in Greenhous Gas Abatement from Greenhouse Challenge Plus.

Conservation Efforts

Monitoring and Reporting

Business and Environmental Reports

Carbon Capture Technology DVD

Environmental Policy