EnergyAustralia’s secret deal with the Victorian government on Yallourn may lead to more generation from the power station than previously anticipated over the next few years even if prices remain low, ramping up pressure on rival coal plants which are already struggling to remain viable.

The terms of last week’s confidential deal have not been released but are widely expected to involve some sort of minimum power price guarantee for a chunk of Yallourn’s 1480 megawatts of capacity to enable it to keep pumping out electricity until mid-2028 even when wholesale power prices sink close to zero or turn negative.