The Bell Bay Power Station was a power station located in Bell Bay, on the Tamar River, Tasmania, Australia, adjacent to the Tamar Valley Power Station, with which it was often confused. It was commissioned between 1971 and 1974 as an oil fired thermal power station, and was converted to natural gas in 2003, after the commissioning of the Tasmanian Gas Pipeline, a submarine gas pipeline which transports natural gas from Longford, Victoria, under Bass Strait, to Bell Bay, Tasmania. As the power station's primary role was to provide system security in the event of drought for Tasmania's predominantly hydro-electric based generation system it only was rarely called on to operate, resulting in intervals of five to eight years between periods of significant use. After the commissioning of Basslink in 2006, the power station was decommissioned in 2009. At the time of decommissioning, it had two gas fired steam turbines and three gas turbines, giving a total capacity of of electricity. After the Bell Bay Power Station was decommissioned, the three smaller units became part of the Tamar Valley Power Station. History Establishment In response to a prolonged dry period in Tasmania in 1967 and 1968, the then Hydro-Electric Commission sought to diversify Tasmania's electricity supply away from hydro-electricity. This resulted in the first unit of the Bell Bay Power Station being commissioned in 1971: a single oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox, single drum, reheat boiler, supplying steam to an NEI Parsons steam turbine with hydrogen cooled generator (unit one). In 1974, a second near identical unit followed (unit two). Cooling water was via a once-through cooling system, drawing water directly from the Tamar River. Three capacity fuel oil tanks supplied the of fuel oil per day required to run each of the steam sets. Fuel oil was delivered by tank ship and discharged across a dedicated oil jetty at the site. The tall stack is a distinctive feature in the area. Conversion to natural gas The Tasmanian Gas Pipeline, a submarine gas pipeline which transports natural gas from the Esso natural gas plant at Longford, Victoria, under Bass Strait, to Bell Bay, Tasmania, was commissioned in 2002. In 2003, Unit one was converted from fuel oil to natural gas, and Unit two was converted in 2004. Expansion In 2006, three Pratt & Whitney FT8 Twin Pac open cycle gas turbine units were acquired from an existing facility in the US.