Illustrative image (Credit: ververidis / Adobe Stock)
A major turbine failure on 26 August deeply undercut Australia’s Yallourn Power Station’s reliability, forcing one of its four units offline and slashing output by 25 %. The unit, affected by a dislodged turbine during normal operations, now requires a complete replacement – an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, especially given the bespoke nature of Victorian plant designs and limited spare interchangeability. This incident exposes the vulnerability of ageing coal infrastructure and raises concerns over energy security in Victoria as the plant approaches its 2028 scheduled closure.
Reliability Breakdown
26 August, ~1:37 p.m.: Unit 2 tripped unexpectedly due to a low-pressure turbine (LP turbine) issue.
27 August: The outage was confirmed as a “forced outage” at Unit 2 due to the turbine fault.
7 September: Media reports clarified that one of four units remains offline, contributing to a 25 % drop in station output amid a high-demand trading period.
Ongoing: With one unit under maintenance and another recently taken offline due to a tube leak, EnergyAustralia faces increasing pressure to secure firm capacity.
Systems Breakdown: Where Did It Go Wrong?
The failure stems from mechanical degradation and a lack of redundancy in critical components. With bespoke turbine designs limiting spare parts availability, a dislodged turbine can cascade into prolonged downtime, with each unit forming a substantial portion of the station’s capacity.
This reinforces concerns around:
- Design fragility in ageing coal-fired systems
- Inadequate redundancy among bespoke turbines
- Maintenance gaps amid the station’s ageing infrastructure.
Systemic Risks of Aging Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
Yallourn is emblematic of broader systemic risks within energy infrastructure nearing decommissioning. The incident accentuates how dependent the grid remains on single-source generation, especially during the energy transition. As these legacy plants retire, the urgency to integrate more reliable and flexible clean energy sources becomes increasingly clear. This failure highlights the risk of prolonged outages underscoring the fragility of legacy assets in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.
Illustrative image (Credit: ververidis / Adobe Stock )
Systems Engineering Insights
Component-level resilience: Could modular or off-the-shelf turbines have minimized downtime?
Boundary protection: Was condition monitoring sufficient preceding failure?
Graceful degradation: Could partial unit functionality have been maintained?
Human-system transparency: Were operators alerted to turbine instability in a timely manner?
Lifecycle governance: Has the approaching closure discouraged investment in robust maintenance protocols?
Clearly, this incident isn’t just a mechanical breakdown but a symptom of deferred modernization and underinvestment in resilience.
Regulatory and Public Implications
EnergyAustralia faces heightened scrutiny for its handling of reliability-related risks during the plant’s twilight years. The incident spotlights questions about:
- Why bespoke design precludes equipment interchangeability
- Whether budget pressures have deprioritized system robustness
- What strategies are in place to manage power reliability as coal units phase out.
With Yallourn nearing closure, the focus now shifts to ensuring grid stability during the transition – and whether investments in storage or gas backup can fill the gap soon enough.
Looking Ahead
This forced outage at Yallourn starkly illustrates the risks of over-reliance on ageing, bespoke fossil-fuel infrastructure. As decommissioning looms, this failure should prompt:
- Accelerated deployment of renewable and backup energy sources
- Strategic investment in modernizing critical energy infrastructure
- Improved contingency planning for unexpected failures.
The incident is a clear call-to-action: aging systems without modern resilience are increasingly dangerous liabilities that threaten energy security and public trust.
References:
McArdle, Paul 2025, ‘Unplanned outage on Yallourn Unit 2 extended another ~month (RTS 22 Oct 2025)’, WattClarity, viewed 10 September 2025, <https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2025/08/29aug-ywps2-outage-extended>
Kutchel, Danielle 2025, ‘Collapse at Yallourn Power Station leaves unit offline for weeks’, ABC News, viewed 10 September 2025, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-09/yallourn-power-station-outage-air-duct-collapse/105394406>
Vorrath, Sophie 2025, ‘“Literally collapsing around workers:” Ageing coal plant suffers fresh unplanned outage’, RenewEconomy, viewed 10 September 2025, <https://reneweconomy.com.au/literally-collapsing-around-workers-ageing-coal-plant-suffers-fresh-unplanned-outage >
Kutchel, Danielle 2025, ‘Analysis reveals Victoria’s coal-fired power stations are “unreliable” as closures near’, ABC News, viewed 10 September 2025, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-16/coal-reliability-report-outages-loy-yang-yallourn-latrobe-valley/105296552>
Cosoleto, Tara 2025, ‘Yallourn power station: Energy Australia pushes for no conviction over power station fire’, 9News, viewed 10 September 2025, <https://www.9news.com.au/national/energy-australia-pushes-for-no-conviction-over-yallourn-power-station-fire/673d378e-a864-47ee-99e0-cad883bf6cd8>
Whittaker, Jarrod 2021, ‘Energy Australia to close Yallourn power station early and build 350 megawatt battery’ ABC NEWS, viewed 10 September 2025, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-10/yallourn-power-station-early-closure/13233274 >
