EnergyAustralia buys up Victorian generators to meet peak demand

THE owner of Yallourn power station has bought two Victorian gas-fired generators, which are turned on only to meet peak demand.

THE owner of Yallourn power station has bought two Victorian gas-fired generators which are turned on only to meet peak demand.

EnergyAustralia has acquired all shares in Ecogen Energy, which owns the Newport and Jeeralang gas-fired power stations in Victoria.

Generally brought online when demand is high or as short-term replacements, they produce up to 9 per cent of the state’s electricity generation capacity.

LICENCE EXTENSION REQUESTED FOR POWER STATION

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Yallourn power station has enough coal in its mine to run until 2032 but its licence expires in 2026.

Energy Australia managing director Catherine Tanna said the acquisition would give the company the certainty of direct ownership and the flexibility of intermediate and peaking gas-fired generation.

“A new, modern energy system is taking shape, based around a range of technologies including solar, wind, demand response, pumped hydro and battery storage,” she said.

“Gas-fired generation has an important role to play supporting the integration of renewable energy, which makes Ecogen a great addition to our asset portfolio.”

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The Newport plant is a 510 MW-capacity single unit. Jeeralang, in the Latrobe Valley, has seven units with 440 MW total capacity.

Energy­Australia plans to shut its Australian coal-fired generators before 2042.

Yallourn, now the nation’s most emissions-intensive coal plant, has enough coal in its mine to run until 2032 but its licence expires in 2026.