The struggling renewables rollout has forced NSW to extend the life of the country’s biggest coal-fired power station and raised questions about whether it will be needed to keep the lights on into the 2030s.

NSW’s decision to extend the life of the giant Eraring power station on Lake Macquarie by at least two years, at a cost of up to $225 million a year, was also slammed by clean energy developers scrambling to fill the gap that will open up when it closes.