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Hybrid co-locatedAustraliaEIR-1387

Fire damages engine room at Nova power station

Dec 2022Published 28 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantThermal / fireProvisional10 MW
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersMedium confidence
out of service for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hidden
Where
Nova power station at IGO's Nova nickel-copper mine, Fraser Range, Western Australia
Operator
Zenith Energy
What
Fire damaged 10 MW diesel engine room
Injuries
None reported
Response
On-site emergency team isolated and extinguished the fire

What happened

In the early hours of 3 December 2022 a fire broke out in the diesel engine room of the 10 MW Nova power station in Western Australia's Fraser Range. The station supplies IGO's Nova nickel-copper mine and includes solar PV and battery storage. The on-site emergency response team isolated and extinguished the fire, confining damage to the engine room. No other infrastructure was affected and there were no injuries. Mining operations were halted and non-essential personnel sent home.

Contributing factors

The cause of the fire has not been reported. A probe was launched to establish it.

Lessons learned

  1. On-site emergency teams should be ready to isolate and contain fires rapidly to protect adjacent plant.
  2. Staged contingency power arrangements can limit the duration of operational shutdowns after localised damage.
  3. Damage confined to one room can still take generation and processing offline for different periods, so restoration plans should treat those timelines separately.

More lessons on spacing, layout and fire spread, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Model and age of the diesel engines
  • Cost of repairs and downtime
  • WorkSafe investigation findings

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

safetowork.com.au

Published 2026-09-28. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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