Coal combustion products

Coal combustion products (also known as CCP) are solid waste materials produced when coal is burned to generate electricity.

Using coal combustion products conserves natural resources, saves energy and reduces associated carbon emissions, and contributes towards an efficient circular economy.

Coal Combustion Products (CCPs) – Innovation and Collaboration

With a global shift towards a circular economy, companies are increasingly seeking new ways to lessen their environmental impact, reduce their carbon footprint and harness the value of resources traditionally discarded.

Coal combustion products or CCPs can be used in a wide range of bound and unbound applications. Bound application encapsulates or chemically transforms the resource into a final product such as cement, concrete and supplementary cementitious materials.

Unbound application includes the CCPs as an alternative to traditional quarry materials in applications such as road stabilisation and pipe bedding. The use of CCPs in approved applications is a sustainable solution that diverts waste from landfill, and:

conserves natural resources
saves energy, reduces associated carbon emissions; and
results in measurable economic benefits.

Stanwell is a Government Owned Corporation, backed by government and reliable and innovative in its approach. We are driving industry innovation and collaboration to harness the value of CCPs as a resource to facilitate improved sustainability with lower project delivery costs.

Stanwell is moving towards a lower carbon future and the commercialisation of CCPs will help government and our customers meet their ESG targets.

CCPs – shifting from waste disposal to resource recovery

Stanwell is leading the industry by identifying new sustainable ways to collaborate and innovate with industry. Every year we divert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CCPs from landfill.

Most recently, Stanwell Power Station invested in the use of CCP for a required road repair as an alternative to naturally quarried materials. The CCP recovery and placement sustainability road demonstrated the:

Ease of resource recovery with no requirement for crushing or screening
Efficient handling and placement of CCPs into a road excavation.
Standard dust management.

Coal Combustion Products (CCPs) – Shifting from waste disposal to resource recovery video presents more detail on this project.

Ash offtake facility at Tarong Power Station

Stanwell Corporation has demonstrated its commitment to sustainability and implementing a circular economy through a newly built CCP offtake facility at Tarong Power Station.

CCP (including fly ash and bottom ash) are the by-products resulting from the coal-fired power generation process. CCP are a valuable resource with significant application for use in sustainable concrete and building products, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional concrete manufacture.

The new ash offtake facility has the capacity to support 400,000 tonnes per annum of high-quality cement grade fly ash (a type of CCP) and was commissioned late 2021. This will enable Tarong Power Station to reduce the CCP stored at site and facilitate the use of CCP in infrastructure projects.

Tarong fly ash has previously been used in the construction of the Gateway Bridge Motorway Duplication, Clem7 tunnel, Airport Link Tunnel, City Link and the Go Between Bridge.

Stanwell is working proactively with industry participants and relevant institutions to progress increased utilisation of CCPs in the built environment.

Stanwell Power Station road repair demonstration

We have worked in partnership with the Ash Development Association of Australia and Capricorn Enterprise to identify and facilitate increased ash utilisation in major infrastructure projects within the Central Queensland region, including a road repair demonstration using coal combustion products at the Stanwell Power Station.

The road repair area is now being used as a case study for further projects in the region. We are working with local councils and civil contractors to investigate options to incorporate coal combustion products into modern road design and construction.

Images: Coal combustion product road repair trail at Stanwell Power Station (pre-trial image on left and post-trial image on right)

Cenosphere harvesting

Cenospheres are a naturally occurring by-product of fly ash that has a range of industrial uses including ceramics, plastics, resins, and paints. They are small, hollow, hard-shelled, ultra-low-density spheres that float on ash storage dams.

Cenospheres are harvested at Meandu Mine and the Tarong power stations. Stanwell cenospheres have unique properties not usually found in other sources of cenospheres, offering high compressive strength superior color (pure white), chemical properties and a very high heat resistance (melting point).

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Coal combustion products