Vales Point coal plant life extended until 2033
The owner of one of NSW’s biggest coal power stations has delayed its potential closure date by four years to 2033, as expectations mount that Origin Energy’s huge Eraring plant will have to run for longer as the snail’s pace of the transition to low-carbon energy takes its toll.
The new Czech owner of the 1320-megawatt Vales Point generator on the NSW Central Coast has advised the energy market operator that the technical life of the plant has been extended from the original date of 2029 as a result of a full assessment of the equipment.
The Vales Point power station, north of Gosford, may be kept open for four more years. Peter Rae
“The plant continues to provide high levels of availability to the system and is expected to continue to do so through to 2033,” Delta Electricity acting chief executive David Morris said.
The decision comes amid escalating concern about the ability of Australia’s power system to maintain reliable and affordable electricity supplies as renewable power increases and as coal plants switch off.
Vales Point and Eraring are two big coal plants in NSW that were originally due to close this decade, but they could now both keep running for longer, putting at risk the country’s climate targets for 2030, including 82 per cent renewable energy use and a 43 per cent cut in carbon emissions. A third coal plant, AGL Energy’s Liddell plant in the Hunter Valley, closed in April this year.
A decision on whether Origin needs to keep running Eraring beyond its currently targeted closure date of August 2025 is expected between August and the year-end, after an independent technical report is delivered to the NSW government on the robustness of the state power system through the next few years, and the latest
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