HISTORY OF SOUTH FREMANTLE POWER STATION
Due to an urgent need to address the severe electricity shortage in Western Australia, particularly in the Perth metropolitan area following the end of World War II, a second power station was needed. The primary existing power infrastructure consisted of the East Perth Power Station which was inadequate, leading to constant power cuts and impeding the growth of economic activity and social development.
Fuelled in part by the accelerated pace of migration and industrial development, as well as a crucial need to modernise the state’s limited electricity network, the newly formed State Electricity Commission in Western Australia (SECWA) played a pivotal role in the establishment of the power station. A pressing need to standardize Perth’s frequency from the outdated 40Hz was deeply felt, particularly as elsewhere abroad, the standard frequency of electricity was 50Hz.
Location
North Coogee was chosen for the location of South Fremantle Power Station based on, just like the East Perth Power Station, its close proximity to seawater for the abundant water supply required for cooling (the river in East Perth’s case), as well as the railway line which was required for coal deliveries.
Construction
Construction began in 1946. Due to difficulty obtaining resources in the global supply chain, particularly for essential materials like concrete, pipes and valves, constructing the South Fremantle Power Station took six years. Building materials was substituted at times, such as using fly ash from the East Perth Power Station to mix with concrete. Fly ash helps to control the rise in temperatures and improves its overall performance.
Most of the specialised equipment was sourced from the United Kingdom, a key supplier who were themselves facing a long road to recovery with their own -post war challenges.
Architectural Design
Notable for its Art Deco industrial design, influenced by Inter War Functionalist and Stripped Classical architectural styles, the South Fremantle Power Station is the largest example of this architectural blend in Western Australia, despite its severely deteriorating state today.
Commissioning
Commissioned in stages starting in 1951, the South Fremantle Power Station quickly became the largest electricity generating infrastructure in Western Australia. The four boilers on Station A at the South Perth Power Station were commissioned in January 1951, with the first alternator coming online in May. Minister for Electricity, David Brand, made the commissioning official on 27 June 1951. Progress continued when the second generator came online in September, the third and last units in January and December 1954. This brought the full capacity of the power station to 100 MW.
East Perth Power Station
East Perth Power Station continually experienced problems, particularly as it was an unreliable system which was prone to breakdowns and overloads, resulting in disruptions to homes and economic activity. This was eased when the first stage of the South Fremantle Power Station came online, although it brought to light a number of other issues to contend with.
Due to the limitations of East Perth operating a 40Hz system, the favoured frequency for general power and lighting, this non-standard frequency hindered the modernisation and expansion of Perth’s electricity grid. Homes throughout the metropolitan suburbs were required to convert to 50Hz and even when most, if not all homes had converted, electricity from East Perth had to be transformed to 50Hz.
This meant that every appliance, motor and electrical piece of equipment designed to be used in 40Hz systems was rendered incompatible and couldn’t efficiently operate on a 50Hz system. East Perth required a frequency converter set (something unique in Australia and rare in the world) which allowed it to generate both 40Hz and 50Hz at the same time, until it was no longer required in the 1960s.
South West Interconnected System (SWIS)
With the South Fremantle Power Station fully up and running in 1956, the State Electricity Commission was able to extend electric power into rural areas of the southwest. It marked the beginning of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), which would see a number of other power stations constructed.
Collie Power Station was established on 31 March 1931 by the Collie Power Co Ltd, to provide power to Amalgamated Collaries Ltd, a major coal mining company in the area. It was the first power station in Western Australia to be fired with pulverised coal and also the first in Australia constructed purposely to use coal in a pulverised form. The State Government acquired it in June 1946, as it was necessary for extending the power supplies beyond the metropolitan supply area. It was the start of the South West Power Scheme.
The Bunbury Power Station commenced operations in May 1957 and connected to Perth 180km away through a 132 kV line. Muja was later operational in 1965, followed by Kwinana Power Station, with all three connecting to the grid.
Closure
The South Fremantle Power Station closed in 1985, four years after East Perth closed. Newer, more efficient power generation infrastructure made the outdated metro coal power stations increasingly uneconomical. It didn’t benefit East Perth or South Fremantle when Muja underwent numerous expansions in the 1980s and was also located in close proximity to an abundant supply of coal in Collie. There were also challenges facing both metro power stations, with stricter standards being imposed on smoke emissions and environmental awareness increasing on a multifaceted scale.
Redevelopment
Today, the South Fremantle Power Station lies abandoned, a dilapidated shell of its past. It’s owned by Synergy with the switchyard owned by Western Power.
Time and time again, politicians and the corporate alike come and go with the best intentions to redevelop the site. All usually promise the same plans: redevelopment for apartments, commercial space for shops, restaurants, cafes, bars galleries, as well as public spaces for the community and events. But that’s just it. Bullshit talks and money walks (intentionally reversing Vincent Benedict’s famous line).
Australian Capital Equity (a company belonging to Kerry Stokes) pulled out from buying and developing the site. Remediation due to heavy pollution from a number of contaminants is expected to cost around $70m. In addition, relocating the switchyard could cost up to $100m.
The power station is still “held for sale from an accounting point of view”.
Together with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, Synergy has been working on further environmental studies including for PFAS on the site. The site’s status is “remediated for restricted use”.
PFAS is abbreviated for Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are “forever chemicals” that have extremely string chemical bonds, “making them highly resistant to degradation in the environment and human body”.
Synergy is said to be also working on a heritage conservation management strategy in order to see what can be done in the long term to maintain its condition. Although it’s very likely they’ve been saying the same thing for decades and it’s doubtful anyone can or will hold them accountable.
