company insight

Decommissioning of Mining and Energy Infrastructure

Decommissioning is becoming an increasingly significant issue in the coal power generation and mining sector due to economic, socio-political and environmental factors.

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It’s expected that 14 gigawatts of Australia’s coal powered generation will reach the end of its useful life and be retired by 2040. Coal plant retirements have also continued at record pace globally with many more expected to close in coming years.

One of the greatest challenges facing the power generation sector today is the decommissioning of retired facilities and infrastructure. Once a power station has reached the end of its productive life, operators have a duty of care to remove all redundant infrastructure and restore and remediate any legacy environmental contamination.

Decommissioning a power station and preparing a site for reuse is often a complex and lengthy process that includes removal of hazardous materials, the demolition, recycling and disposal of structures, remediating soil and ground water.

Such an undertaking requires specialist expertise. Utilising a specialist industrial demolition and remediation contractor with extensive experience in the resources and energy sector will go a long way to ensure a retired coal plants is decontaminated, deconstructed and remediated safely, sustainably and economically.

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More than half of the country’s coal mines are managed by pro-Russian separatist militia.

Credit: DmyTo/Shutterstock.

Liberty Industrial’s Directors, Clinton Dick and Simon Gill, are no strangers to coal-fired power station decommissioning, having led the delivery of many high-profile power station removal projects throughout Australia over recent years.

Liberty Industrial provides specialised deconstruction and remediation services to the mining, and energy sectors and have recently carried out the removal of GPM -Generator Property Management Pty Ltd ’s Munmorah Power Station, a former 1400 megawatt coal fired power station. This is recognised as the largest power station demolition project to be carried out in Australia to date.

They have also delivered a number of other coal fired power station removal projects, such as Stanwell Corporation’s Swanbank B Power Station, Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert and Dampier Power Stations.

It’s not just in the removal of power stations where Liberty Industrial excel, but also in the removal of mining infrastructure and process plant. Liberty Industrial have delivered process plant and infrastructure removal projects over recent years for an extensive client base of mining majors including Rio Tinto, BHP, BMA, Alcoa, Glencore, Oceanic Coal and Centennial Coal to name but a few.

Liberty Industrial have carried out some of the most significant mining infrastructure deconstruction projects in Australia’s mining industry to date including the demolition of entire refining facilities and process plants such as the Shell Clyde Oil Refinery, BHP Billiton’s Boodarie Hot Briquette Iron Ore plant and Rio Tinto’s HIsmelt facility.

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Clinton originally founded Liberty Industrial as a mine closure consulting business off the back of his extensive industrial deconstruction project management experience. Initially Liberty Industrial was primarily involved in providing mine closure planning studies for blue chip resources and energy sector clients, before the company transitioned into a deconstruction and remediation contracting business. Twelve years later, Liberty Industrial is a leader in their field.

Clinton says that a site’s reuse options can inform planning decisions, and where developed early in the process can have significant environmental and economic benefits.

“Understanding the range of potential reuse options for the site will assist in the development of a realistic schedule and budget for the deconstruction and remediaiton works.”

“Our team provides options for deconstruction and remediaiton that ensure the most commercially beneficial, safest and most sustainable solutions are realised.”

Liberty Industrial offer a comprehensive range of integrated capabilities and Clinton says this can provide significant advantages for site owners.

“We offer an integrated approach to site closure and rehabilitation, drawing on our diverse range of complimentary capabilities from closure planning and provisioning, right through to demolition, remediaiton and civil contracting.”

“There are synergistic benefits to our full-service offering. Continuity of works, an accelerated delivery schedule and cost savings are just some of the benefits of our comprehensive capability.”

“The schedule can be developed to strategically release critical areas for early access, with hazardous materials removal and remediation to be undertaken concurrently as demolition works progress, allowing development of an overall shorter and more cost effective program for the completion of the project.”

Image courtesy of Garry Owens - Raygun Photography

About Liberty Industrial

Liberty Industrial is Australia’s leading provider of deconstruction and remediation services. The company has established an enviable reputation based on integrity and technical capability and has received international acclaim for the delivery of some of Australia’s largest and most complex demolition and remediation projects.

Liberty Industrial provide complete solutions for large and complex projects, offering a comprehensive range of integrated capabilities including demolition, dismantling, asbestos and hazardous materials removal, industrial cleaning, contaminated land remediation, site rehabilitation, site preparation and civil contracting services.