Tallawarra originally operated as a
coal-fired power station beginning in 1954 and reaching full operation by 1961. At its peak, it had a capacity output of . 'A' station had four
Thomson-Houston 2 stage (HP+LP) turbo generators. Steam was supplied by four
Simon Carves pulverised fuel boilers at at a pressure of and a temperature of . In 1960 "B" station was built having two
English Electric 3-stage turbo generators (No. 5+6). The generators were hydrogen-cooled but didn't have any stator water cooling. Steam was supplied by 2 ICAL pulverised coal burning boilers at a rate of at a pressure of and a temperature of . The station closed in 1989, and stood abandoned by the foreshore of Lake Illawarra. It was demolished over a ten-year period. In early 2003 the site was sold by
Pacific Power to
TRUenergy and construction of the gas-fired combined cycle plant began in November 2006. The plant consists of a gas turbine of and a 3-stage steam turbine of with a single 500 MVA generator. A unique feature is the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (waste heat boiler) with super heater and reheater sections for the HP, IP and LP stages of the turbine. Overall thermal efficiency is 60%. It was opened by
Premier Nathan Rees on 18 March 2009. In 2021 construction began on Stage B, a $300 million project with a 320 MW Open Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plant. It was commissioned in June 2024. ==References==