Rising Conveyor at Morwell Power Station, the enclosed conveyor carried coal from the storage bunker up to the boiler house.

01 Morwell Power StationMorwell2017

ISO 1001/250f/8.0200mm

Series · 79 prints

Morwell Power Station

Photographed 2017
Frames 79
Camera NIKON D810
Location Morwell, VIC
Status Demolished; last chimneys felled 2021
Years 1958 to 2014
Heritage VHR H2377
Specs 170 MW · Eight Mitchell Engineering boilers · Two briquette factories
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories was a brown coal power station and briquette works at Morwell in the Latrobe Valley, built by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria from 1949 and run from 1958 to 2014. It was the centrepiece of the state's postwar plan to reduce Victoria's reliance on black coal from New South Wales. The station had eight Mitchell Engineering boilers and five generating sets, 170 MW in all, with coal conveyed in from the west and split between the power station and the two briquette factories.

The complex stood on Gunaikurnai Country, traditional land of the Braiakaulung people. The State Electricity Commission of Victoria planned it in its 1947 annual report: a new open cut south of Morwell feeding two briquette factories and a power station. Work began in 1949, and the SECV's chief engineer, Ernest Bate, ordered plant for the first two factories in Germany; the boilers and turbines came from Britain, the boilers by Mitchell Engineering.

Short of loan funds, the SECV had by December 1952 cut its Morwell construction staff from 1,360 to 300, and the imported plant lay in the open. Work resumed in May 1954 on a revised plan: the third and fourth factories were cancelled and power came before briquettes. Generation at Morwell Power Station began in December 1958 and the first briquettes in December 1959; the Morwell coal proved unsuitable for briquetting, so Yallourn coal was railed in.

In 1993 the briquette plant passed to Energy Brix Australia, the first new Victorian Government Business Enterprise. A Boxing Day 2003 fire destroyed the conveyor feeding the B, C and D briquette plants, leaving only A plant. Energy Brix Australia decided in July 2014 to close; the factory ran until August.

The Heritage Council of Victoria decided on 12 February 2018 to register the complex, entered on the Victorian Heritage Register as H2377 on 1 March 2018. Two of the four 94-metre chimneys were felled on 5 May 2019; the last two came down on 20 February 2021, the last structures of Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories to be demolished.

Victorian Heritage Register H2377, SECV Power Generation in the Latrobe Valley (1977), The Argus (21 January 1953) and Latrobe Valley Express (22 February 2021)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1947
1949
1951
1952
1954
1958
1959
1962
1993
2003
2014
2017
2018
2018
2019
2021
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed and numbered, printed from the original RAW file. Open editions in the two smallest sizes; limited editions of 100, 50 and 25 in the three larger, never reissued once they sell through.

Rising Conveyor at Morwell Power Station, the enclosed conveyor carried coal from the storage bunker up to the boiler house.
Rising Conveyor
Generator at Morwell Power Station, the blade rings inside have the kind of precision that heavy industry does better than.
Generator
Turbine Floor 3 at Morwell Power Station, a turbine control panel lines the left wall, its rows of analogue gauges.
The Gauge Board
Turbine Hall Control Room Entrance at Morwell Power Station, the control room sat above the turbine hall floor at one end.
Turbine Hall Control Room Entrance
A turbo-generator at Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories, with a large spoked control wheel in the foreground and a Metropolitan Vickers plaque on the unit behind, curved silver pipes arching overhead.
Turbine Front
The turbine floor at Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories, with graffiti across the turbine casings, a corrugated metal control booth at centre.
Turbine Floor
Turbine Floor 2 at Morwell Power Station, the turbine hall stretches deep into the building.
Bedplates
Turbine and Condenser at Morwell Power Station, the condensers below the turbines returned exhaust steam back to feedwater.
Turbine and Condenser
Transfer House at Morwell Power Station, cream brick facade, blackened where water has tracked down from the roofline.
Transfer House
Top of the Bunker at Morwell Power Station, the top of the coal bunker, where the conveyors discharged into storage below.
Top of the Bunker
Top of Boiler at Morwell Power Station, steel grating covers the floor of the upper boiler level.
Top of Boiler
The Corridor at Morwell Power Station, a wide concrete corridor runs between two multi-storey industrial buildings.
The Corridor
Steam Vessel at Morwell Power Station, a steel grating walkway runs between a massive cylindrical vessel and a concrete.
Steam Vessel
Soot Blower at Morwell Power Station, steel grating stretches down a narrow service walkway between boiler units.
Soot Blower
Shuttle Conveyor at Morwell Power Station, a steel grating walkway runs alongside a heavy conveyor system deep inside.
Shuttle Conveyor
Shaker Screen No 6 at Morwell Power Station, no.
Shaker Screen No 6
Shaker Screen Floor at Morwell Power Station, six screens to a row, drive motors still mounted in place.
Shaker Screen Floor
Screen Floor at Morwell Power Station, steel hoppers line both sides of a narrow corridor, their conical bases suspended.
Screen Floor
Raw Coal Bunker at Morwell Power Station, a massive steel drum roller sits at the top of the coal bunker, mounted.
Raw Coal Bunker
Press Covers at Morwell Power Station, two pale green steel covers angle upward from the concrete floor, flanking a narrow.
Press Covers
Precipitator at Morwell Power Station, a concrete roadway runs between the precipitator housing and a three-storey cream.
Precipitator
Power Station Window at Morwell Power Station, one window, two broken panes.
Power Station Window
Workshop at Morwell Power Station, a rectangle of sunlight falls across worn timber floorboards inside the maintenance.
Workshop
Wet Section at Morwell Power Station, rows of steel filtration trays stretch the full length of the hall, coated in fine.
Wet Section
Wet Section Western End at Morwell Power Station, visitors Carpark is painted on the base of the western end building.
Wet Section Western End
Wet Section Walkway at Morwell Power Station, the walkway ran the full length of the wet section above the processing.
Wet Section Walkway
Wet Section 213 Conveyor at Morwell Power Station, the wet section handled freshly mined brown coal before it was dried.
Wet Section 213 Conveyor
Vanishing Conveyor at Morwell Power Station, the frame is numbered 59, which tells you how far along the conveyor you're.
Vanishing Conveyor
Through the Window at Morwell Power Station, through the boiler house window, another wing of the station.
Through the Window
Press Floor at Morwell Power Station, a heavy flywheel sits at the centre of the frame, bolted to a large reciprocating.
Press Floor
Power Station Riser at Morwell Power Station, the riser corridor gave access to the steam valve gear that fed the turbines.
Power Station Riser
Point to Point at Morwell Power Station, an enclosed conveyor bridge cuts diagonally across an overcast sky, supported.
Point to Point
Number 10 Briquette Factory at Morwell Power Station, the high-level corridor in Number 10 Briquette Factory ran.
Number 10 Briquette Factory
Number 2 Crusher at Morwell Power Station, a steel mesh walkway runs between two rows of crusher housings.
Number 2 Crusher
The full footprint of Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories seen from the top of the raw coal bunker, the rising conveyor running through the centre to the power station bunker, with the wet section.
Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factory
Metropolitan Vickers at Morwell Power Station, metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co.
Metropolitan Vickers
Mechanical Workshop at Morwell Power Station, the machine tools are still here, green paint mostly intact.
Mechanical Workshop
Maze at Morwell Power Station, cream brick and corrugated iron press tight against each other.
Maze
Main Press Floor at Morwell Power Station, large green steel housings sit at sharp angles along the concrete floor.
Main Press Floor
M50s at Morwell Power Station, a long covered conveyor gallery stretches into the distance, its timber-lined roof darkened.
M50s
Loading Shed at Morwell Power Station, pale brick buildings stack behind a cracked concrete apron.
Loading Shed
The launder yard along the brick facade of the 'C' and 'D' Briquette Factories at Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories, with rows of broken windows, a rusted cyclone separator in the mid-ground.
Launder Yard
Hiding Spot at Morwell Power Station, a steel mesh grating floor stretches across a maintenance platform inside the power.
Hiding Spot
Hammer Mills at Morwell Power Station, a large industrial fan sits caged behind steel mesh on the right.
Hammer Mills
Hammer Mills 2 at Morwell Power Station, two hammer mills sit heavy on the concrete floor, their cylindrical steel bodies.
The Flywheel
Hammer Mill Conveyor at Morwell Power Station, the idler rollers are still in place, frozen at whatever angle they were.
Hammer Mill Conveyor
Grinding Shop at Morwell Power Station, heavy milling machines line the workshop floor, their cast-iron beds thick.
Grinding Shop
Fire Escape at Morwell Power Station, three levels of steel-grated landing platforms climb the pale brick face.
Fire Escape
East and West at Morwell Power Station, steel coal bunkers hang overhead, labelled East and West.
East and West
Dust Extraction at Morwell Power Station, steel grating covers the floor of the upper level, gridded and dark with decades.
Dust Extraction
Dryer Motors at Morwell Power Station, heavy industrial dryer motors line the ground floor on concrete plinths,.
Dryer Motors
Double Shaker Screens at Morwell Power Station, the shaker screens sorted coal by size before it moved further.
Double Shaker Screens
Divider at Morwell Power Station, two multi-storey brick buildings stand parallel, forming a wide concrete corridor.
Divider
Descent at Morwell Power Station, a steel grate staircase climbs steeply between levels inside the boiler house.
Descent
Cooling House at Morwell Power Station, three vertical bays of steel-framed glass rise the full height of the façade.
Cooling House
Cooling House 2 at Morwell Power Station, a narrow service corridor runs the length of the cooling house.
A Hundred Panes
Conveyor and Wet Section at Morwell Power Station, the conveyor bridge connected the wet section to the main building.
Conveyor and Wet Section
Condenser at Morwell Power Station, a massive green condenser drum dominates the right side of the frame, its bolted end.
Condenser
Collector Conveyors at Morwell Power Station, the collector yard empty now, weeds finding the cracks in the concrete.
Collector Conveyors
Chimneys and Precipitator at Morwell Power Station, the Lurgi precipitators pulled ash out of the flue gas before it went.
Chimneys and Precipitator
04 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories is historically significant as the centrepiece of the Victorian Government's post-WWII strategy to revitalise Victoria's economic growth through the development of the Latrobe Valley by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) into the state's principal power and energy producing region

Victorian Heritage Register · VHR H2377 (2018) · Statement of Significance

05 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

06 FIELD NOTE

From the field

Read all field notes
Field note · April 2017

I photographed Morwell over two days in 2017, in late March and again in April. The Heritage Council had just placed an interim protection order over the complex, so demolition was on hold and the buildings were still standing, closed and cold.

The boilers, the turbines, the briquette presses, the conveyors and the control rooms were all in place, just switched off. You could walk the briquette factories floor by floor, the whole production line still there from the wet section up to the presses. Two of the four chimneys were felled in May 2019, and the last two came down on 20 February 2021.

07 BACKGROUND

Notes on the site

The SECV's 1948 pamphlet

In 1948 the State Electricity Commission of Victoria published a fold-out pamphlet, Morwell briquette project. It put the Latrobe Valley brown coal field at about 40 square miles and 6,000 million tons, and the world's thickest known seam at 800 feet. The conveyor from the open cut to the factory bunkers was to run over 4,000 feet, the longest of its kind in Australia, and Australian firms would for the first time build the dredgers, previously obtainable only from Germany.

Source 10

Bernie Briquette

The SECV sold briquettes to households as well as to industry and advertised them with a character called Bernie Briquette. Signs featuring Bernie Briquette were once familiar throughout Victoria where briquettes were sold for domestic use. Briquettes from the Latrobe Valley fuelled domestic heating and cooking through the mid-twentieth century, until oil, electric heating and then natural gas displaced them from the 1960s.

Source 1

The 2017 registration hearing

The Heritage Council of Victoria's Registrations Committee inspected the site on 11 October 2017 and sat at Morwell the next day, with 27 written submissions received. Those who spoke included Cheryl Wragg, who supported registration; Latrobe City Council; the Asbestos Council of Victoria, which opposed registration over friable asbestos and public health; a prospective purchaser, Coal Energy Australia; and the owner, Energy Brix Australia Corporation, by then in liquidation.

Source 7

08 REFERENCES

Sources and further reading

  1. 01
    Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factory, Victorian Heritage Register H2377Heritage Council of Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · 2018vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/200429
    T1
  2. 02
    Power Generation in the Latrobe ValleyState Electricity Commission of Victoria, Public Relations Department (Museums Victoria Collections, item 1696385) · 1977collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/1696385
    T1
  3. 03
    British firms' contracts: Morwell briquette equipmentCairns Post, p. 2 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1951nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42708303
    T1
  4. 04
    Plant for two briquette factories lying in openThe Argus, p. 5 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1953nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23223360
    T1
  5. 05
    Work to resume on Morwell powerThe Sun News-Pictorial, p. 2 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1954nla.gov.au/nla.news-article279779335
    T1
  6. 06
    10 years to finish MorwellThe Argus, p. 7 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1954nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23447155
    T1
  7. 07
    Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories, Decision of the Heritage CouncilHeritage Council of Victoria, Registrations Committee · 2018assets.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/assets/Morwell-Power-Station-and-Briquette-Factories.pdf
    T1
  8. 08
    Hundreds watch fall of Morwell chimneysLatrobe Valley Express (Bryce Eishold) · 2019latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/?p=32569
    T2
  9. 09
    Chimneys come crashing downLatrobe Valley Express (Tessa Randello) · 2021latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/news/2021/02/22/chimneys-come-crashing-down/
    T2
  10. 10
    Morwell briquette projectState Electricity Commission of Victoria (State Library Victoria, P 621.3109945 M84S) · 1948find.slv.vic.gov.au/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma999390153607636&vid=61SLV_INST:SLV
    T1
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