- Permit and Isolation Register8
- Maintenance Work Orders and Defects8
- HSE Incident Register8
- Operations Log8
Generating reliable power
CAQA Powergen Station is a registered generator in the National Electricity Market.
CAQA Powergen Station, electricity generation
CAQA Powergen Station is a registered generator in the National Electricity Market. Its main asset is a 420 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine station at Newport West with two gas turbines, two heat recovery steam generators and a single steam turbine. The business also operates the 96 megawatt Ridgeback wind farm of 32 turbines in the Ararat district and a 28 megawatt hydro station fed by a concrete gravity dam in the Mitta Ranges. Together the three sites supply dispatchable and renewable energy to the grid and provide frequency control services to the market operator.
The business is organised around a central control room at Newport West that operates all three sites and is staffed by a unit controller and a field operator on every shift across a rotating roster of four panels. Maintenance is split into mechanical and electrical, control and instrumentation crews based at Newport West, with a renewables crew that travels to the wind farm and hydro station on a planned cycle. An outage planning team schedules major maintenance around market demand, and a health, safety, environment and quality team supports all sites.
Zero harm
Every person goes home safe every day. Energy is isolated and proven before anyone touches plant.
Reliability
The grid depends on us being available when dispatched. Planned maintenance and honest defect reporting keep the units ready.
Environmental care
Emissions, water and waste are measured, reported and reduced, and licence limits are never treated as targets.
Teamwork
Operators, maintainers and planners share information openly across shifts and sites so that nothing falls between them.
Services and operations
To generate safe, reliable and increasingly clean electricity for the grid while protecting our people, our neighbours and the environment.
Combined cycle generation
Dispatchable generation from two gas turbines, two heat recovery steam generators and a steam turbine, operated from the central control room to market dispatch instructions and grid frequency requirements.
Wind generation
Operation and maintenance of 32 large scale wind turbines at Ridgeback, including climatic monitoring, turbine control system maintenance and civil asset care across the site tracks and hardstands.
Hydro generation and dam operation
Operation of a hydro turbine and generator, water conveyance and control, and dam safety surveillance of the Mitta Ranges storage under the state dam safety requirements.
Plant maintenance
Mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation maintenance of turbines, generators, pumps, valves, transformers, switchgear and protection systems, from routine lubrication to major outage overhauls.
Outage planning and commissioning
Planning and scheduling of major outages, cost estimation, contractor coordination and the operational commissioning and decommissioning of plant returning to or leaving service.
Grid support services
Provision of frequency control ancillary services, under frequency load shedding coordination and high voltage switching in the station switchyard in cooperation with the transmission network operator.
Six departments, one workplace
Each department has a purpose, a lead, responsibilities, performance measures and the systems it works in. Students are placed in a department by their scenario.
Control Room Operations
Operates all three generating sites from the central control room at Newport West, responding to market dispatch and grid frequenc...
Visit departmentMechanical Maintenance
Maintains the mechanical plant at all sites: turbines, generators, pumps, valves, fans, pipework, seals and conveyors. Fitters car...
Visit departmentElectrical, Control and Instrumentation
Maintains the electrical, protection, control and instrumentation systems across the sites, from high voltage switchgear and trans...
Visit departmentWind and Hydro Operations
Runs the Ridgeback wind farm and the Mitta Ranges hydro station and dam. The crew carries out routine and corrective maintenance o...
Visit departmentOutage Planning and Engineering
Plans the scheduled outages, maintenance strategies and capital projects for all sites. Planners produce maintenance plans, estima...
Visit departmentHealth, Safety, Environment and Quality
Owns the safety, environmental and quality management systems, administers the permit to work system and authorisations, investiga...
Visit departmentWorking systems with real records
Every system is live in your browser: create, update, search, move cards on a board and export what you did. Reset returns the seed data at any time.
Permit and Isolation Register
Records every permit to work and its isolations from request through issue, work, restoration and close out.
8 recordsMaintenance Work Orders and Defects
Holds every defect raised and every planned and corrective maintenance work order across the three sites with priority, crew and completion records.
8 recordsHSE Incident Register
Records every injury, near miss, plant event, environmental incident and hazard with investigation status and corrective actions.
8 recordsOperations Log
The control room's chronological record of plant events, starts, shutdowns, alarms, operational checks, readings and instructions across all three sites.
8 recordsOutage and Generation Schedule
Tracks planned outages, their scope, dates, cost estimates and market submissions alongside the generation availability for each unit.
8 recordsInbox
8 work requests from managers and colleagues, each linked to a scenario or a document.
Open inboxEight workplace scenarios
Sign in as a role, read the brief, work through the tasks using the documents and systems, then print an evidence summary for your assessor.
Complete the field operator round and operational checks
You are the Field Operator on panel B, day shift.
Open scenario Intermediate 3 to 4 hoursStart and load a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator after a trip
You are the Unit Controller on panel B, afternoon shift.
Open scenario Intermediate 3 to 4 hoursIsolate multiple energy sources and repair a cooling tower fan gearbox
You are a Mechanical Fitter on the day crew at Newport West.
Open scenario Intermediate 3 to 4 hoursDiagnose and repair a drum level transmitter fault
You are an Instrument Technician on the electrical, control and instrumentation crew.
Open scenario Intermediate 3 to 4 hoursFault find a pitch system and complete a six monthly turbine service
You are a Wind Turbine Technician on the Ridgeback crew.
Open scenario Intermediate 3 to 4 hoursCarry out dam safety surveillance and prepare the monthly report
You are the Hydro Operator at the Mitta Ranges station.
Open scenario Advanced 4 to 5 hoursPlan the GT2 combustion inspection outage
You are the Outage Planner reporting to the Outage Planning Manager.
Open scenario Advanced 3 to 4 hoursAudit the permit system after two near misses
You are the HSE Advisor reporting to the HSE and Quality Manager.
Open scenario Advanced 4 to 5 hoursDesign and run a critical incident exercise for a transformer fire
You are the Emergency Planning Coordinator supporting the HSE and Quality Manager.
Open scenarioNotice board All notices
- Safety Isolation lists must include auxiliary systems
2 September 2026 - Operations GT2 trip investigation and combustion inspection
7 September 2026 - Event October outage: contractor induction sessions
10 September 2026
Coming up Calendar
- 18/09Site safety committee
10:00 am, Training room, Newport West - 22/09Contractor inductions begin for October outage
8:00 am, Training room, Newport West - 24/09Outage planning meeting: GT2 combustion inspection approval
1:00 pm, Planning office, Newport West - 25/09First response team drill
9:00 am, Fire training ground, Newport West
Mapped to the Electricity Supply Industry - Generation Sector Training Package
Every scenario lists the current units of competency and qualifications it supports, with assessor notes and a printable evidence summary. Use it with your own assessment tools or ask CAQA for a matched kit.