The owner of one of NSW’s biggest coal power stations has delayed its potential closure date by four years to 2033 just as expectations are rising that Origin Energy’s huge Eraring plant will also 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 a full assessment of the equipment at the plant has shown the generator’s technical life will last beyond the original expectation of 2029.