It's the end of an era next week when Stanwell closes the doors to its Mica Creek power station.
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For most of its 60 plus years Mica Creek was the only power station in Mount Isa keeping the lights on and the beer cold and the five stacks were the first thing people saw of Mount Isa when coming from the south.
But on January 1 the power plant goes into cold storage after its final two mining industry contracts lapse, with a handful of staff on hand to preserve machinery if an emergency restart is required.
The 218 MW gas-fired power station, 6km commenced operation as a coal-fired power station in the 1960s, converting to gas in 2000.
The power station would have required a costly life-extending overhaul in order to supply energy to customers beyond 2020. Stanwell say the site was simply unable to compete with more modern power stations in the region, with neither of the site's current customers renewing their contracts after the end of 2020.
Mica Creek power station manager Paul Smith the change will mean a change to the Mount Isa skyline with the original power station and its famous five stacks set to come down.
"Back in the day when it was constructed asbestos was widely used as a building material and while we manage that hazard extremely well it's still a risk," Mr Smith said,
"There will be a competitive tender process and we've got to get people mobilised so we're thinking that's not going to happen until 2022."
Mr Smith said Mica Creek power station holds a special place in Mount Isa's history.
"The number of people you talk to is amazing that if they haven't worked here themselves then someone in their family has," he said.
"And it has been instrumental in driving Mount Isa's economy more broadly as well."
Mr Smith praised the skill and attitude of his staff.
"They're lovely people, their heart and soul in their job and that's demonstrated where we've had problems where the power has gone off in town, and it might an Ergon issue, but we'll get phone calls from our operators on their shift breaks offering to come in," he said.
At the time the announcement was made to put Mica Creek into cold storage, it had 32 employees.
Once in cold storage, there will be three people remaining at the site with the rest of the workforce progressively leaving the sit, between December 2020 and July 2021, having either taken voluntary redundancies or taking up redeployment opportunities at other Stanwell sites such as Tarong Power Station in the South Burnett or Stanwell Power Station in the Rockhampton region.
Mr Smith was offered a role elsewhere too but said he is keen to stay on in a mining capacity.
"All our customers were mines, my whole life is hearing about mines so I'm interested in a career move and it I think this is a great opportunity for me," he said.
Stanwell say they will continue involvement in the North West Minerals Province, investigating projects which may have the potential to support the future supply of secure affordable electricity to the region.
The nearby Diamantina Power Station, opened in 2014 and owned by APA will be the only supply of power in the North West, at least until the Copper String project is built in the coming two years.
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