Claims of Cover-Up as Report Reveals Cause of Power Station Blast

Queensland Premier Steven Miles speaks to the media during a press conference in Brisbane, Australia, on June 30, 2020. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

On May 25, 2021, in the quiet country Queensland town of Callide, an explosion rang out from the C4 unit at the local power plant.

A hydrogen-fuelled generator had suffered a catastrophic failure at the power plant operated by government-owned CS Energy.

While workers were able to evacuate safely, repairs from significant damage totalled $200 million (US$133 million). The damage wasn’t fully repaired until April this year.

Adding to costs, the financial pain was also felt by about 440,000 Queenslanders who lost power following the explosion and had to deal with increased electricity prices in the aftermath.

The fallout from the event has been no less catastrophic in 2024, albeit for much more political reasons.

The opposition has accused Queensland’s Labor government of a “cover-up” after an independent forensic engineering draft report released by CS Energy on June 24 showed the power plant—which is jointly run by government and private enterprise—ignored warnings that maintenance was being neglected just two years prior.

The government co-owns the Callide C power station and will aim to take back full ownership in the wake of the report’s release.

CS Energy owns Callide C in a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with IG Power and owns 100 percent of Callide B.

Callide Power Station is one of the seven sites suggested as a potential nuclear reactor site by federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has vowed to bring nuclear power to Australia should he be elected.

Blast One of State’s ‘Greatest Scandals’: Opposition

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has labelled the handling of CS Energy and the Callide Power Station as one of the state’s biggest scandals.

The day after the blast, state Energy Minister Mick de Brenni—who is currently on planned leave from his ministerial role—told parliament all required work at the power plant had been completed.

“A new report the government has tried to keep secret for three years shows they didn’t [complete maintenance works],” Mr. Crisafulli said.

What Does The Report Say?

The CS Energy report, conducted by forensic engineer Sean Brady of Brady Heywood, showed absences in necessary works in both 2016 and 2020.

It also found that CS Energy had failed to “value and implement effective process safety practices.”

The report concluded that the explosion was caused by a combination of factors, including failure of the Unit C4 battery charger.

“When the battery charger did not respond as required by the switching sequence, both DC and AC supply to Unit C4 were lost. The loss of these supplies, combined with the unit being online and generating electricity, led to its catastrophic failure,” the report noted.

Meanwhile, a follow-up review in 2022, 12 months after the C4 unit explosion, found the backlog had not been brought back within KPI limits.

“The lack of maintenance led to the explosion that shut down one of Queensland’s biggest generators, sending power bills soaring,” Mr. Crisafulli said.

“This is one of the greatest scandals we have seen in this state in a long, long time.”

Opposition Argued Government’s Penny-Pinching Contributed To The Incident

Part of the Brady report stated that, “CS Energy sought to use surplus cash reserves for investment in its existing and new assets, but received a more limited agreement that debt management must be considered equally with portfolio revenue.”

Several Liberal-National Party (LNP) MPs voiced their criticism in the potential role that financial handling of the power station had on the explosion.

“The Labor government ripped funds out from Callide Power Station despite energy experts saying it would lead to maintenance and safety failures,” Deputy Opposition Leader Kawana Jarrod Bleijie posted to X.

“They ignored the experts. Labor re-directed money from the power plants to plug budget blow-outs.”

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said the report showed the government ignored the advice of CS Energy.

“There were ministerial directions made by the shareholding ministers—both the treasurer of this state and the energy minister to CS Energy to ensure that all of the money made by our energy power plants goes back to the government,” Ms. Frecklington said.

“Now CS Energy themselves went back to the government and said, ‘Do not make us do this because we need to invest in maintenance in the plants.’ Now what did the government do?”

“Well, they ignored the expert advice from CS Energy and this report shows that. This report shows the cover-up of minister Mick de Brenni and [Treasurer] Cameron Dick.”

Minister Claims to Have Received Incorrect Advice

Mr. de Brenni, who had been on leave to celebrate his wedding anniversary, took some time to address the media on June 27.

The minister told media he had received incorrect advice at the time leading up to the incident.

“They guaranteed that all of the statutory and other maintenance required had been done and what we have seen from the Brady report is the advice the CEO and the chair gave me was incorrect,” he said.

“I looked them in the eye multiple times and asked them to confirm that with me, and unequivocally they confirmed everything that needed to be done had been done. What Brady says is that was incorrect.”

Mr. de Brenni said he had confidence in a newly elected board who would oversee a plan the government had put in place to restore the power station and address any concerns raised in the report.

The release of the report came about after Queensland Premier Steven Miles ordered a review of the operations of CS Energy.

Calls To Fire Energy Minister Dismissed

Mr. Miles also rejected calls from MPs, including Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt, for Mr. de Brenni to be sacked.

The premier noted cultural issues within CS Energy and said maintenance had been “overstated” as a factor in the explosion, adding that the report also showed other issues at play, including management changes and privatisation.

He claimed cuts had been made by the government between 2012-15.

Ultimately, he said, the failure to replace a battery charger was to blame for what was described as a “catastrophic missile event.”