Perhaps not for a householder who wants their telly working, but if you’re in the power generation business, the energy usage lull between air conditioning season (summer) and heater season (winter) is the best time to book a sustained power-down.

That’s why EnergyAustralia has chosen this time of year to switch off its Tallawarra power station at Yallah for two months and conduct a $9.5 million upgrade which it says will make it more efficient filling gaps in the power market. 

Tallawarra has taken on more than 100 additional skilled workers to overhaul and replace equipment, EnergyAustralia Asset Leader Jason Lee said.

A gas-fired power station isn’t just a matter of flicking a switch, but Mr Lee said when the work is completed, the 435-megawatt plant will be able to to be brought into action 30 minutes faster – from around two hours to 90 minutes. 

“Tallawarra isn’t designed to run all the time – its job is to respond to peaks in demand by bringing more supply into the market, often at short notice,” Mr Lee said.

“With prices and system reliability every minute matters, so shortening the time it takes to start the plant by even half an hour can make a big difference.

“Gas-fired generation is great for supporting the integration of intermittent wind and solar energy into the national electricity grid. The work we’re doing now will help ensure Tallawarra remains an important part of the energy mix in the Illawarra region and New South Wales for decades to come.”

The two-month outage that began in April involves replacing the plant’s high-pressure drum that helps create a supply of steam.