Temporary Generation North
Temporary Generation North and its smaller sibling Temporary Generation South are gas turbine power stations in South Australia. They were bought by the Government of South Australia in 2017 as a response to the 2016 South Australian blackout and load-shedding in February 2017.
Temporary Generation North is five open cycle gas turbines installed at the former Holden site in Elizabeth South, a northern suburb of Adelaide.
The generators were purchased to be used only in emergency shortfalls in electricity supply to the grid, such as in extreme weather. Both sets were first used on 24 January 2019 to deal with a supply shortfall in Victoria.
The intent of the Weatherill ALP state government was that the turbines would be converted from diesel fuel to natural gas and moved to a single location while remaining owned by the government.
In August 2019, the state government announced that it had arranged 25-year leases of the power stations to two different companies, with the leases taking effect from May 2020. Both companies operate wind farms in South Australia. The five northern generators will be leased to Nexif Energy and relocated to a new site at Outer Harbor and operating on natural gas before the end of 2020. Nexif Energy also proposes to convert them to combined cycle with a steam turbine in the following few years.
