Almost half a million Queensland households and businesses were left without power after a recent fire at the Callide Power Station. 

On May 25, a fire in a turbine hall at the 1.525 GW coal-fired Callide Power Station took three generating units offline, resulting in 477,000 Queensland customers losing power.

The power station, located near Biloela in central Queensland, runs over two sites; Callide B and Callide C. The fire occurred in Callide Unit C4, and that unit is not expected to return to service for at least a year. However, its owners say the two units at Callide B should be back in operation in coming days. 

A 300-kilogram piece of shrapnel had to be pulled from the roof of the power station as part of the repairs, and after touring the facility last week, CFMMEU Mining and Energy vice president Shane Brunker said the damage was astounding.

“The damage was pretty catastrophic,” Mr Brunker told the ABC.

“Workplace Health and Safety allowed a crane crew to remove it because it was unsafe leaving it up there.”

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released a preliminary report that calls for new mitigation measures to be explored. The outage at the Callide station created a cascade that knocked other plants in the network offline too. AEMO recommends new measures to improve the broader resilience of the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Some experts have used the event to argue for a move from the current centralised system of large fossil-fuel generation to smaller scale generation backed by energy storage.