Tony Abbott urges Malcolm Turnbull to keep Hazelwood Power Station open

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has rejected calls from his predecessor Tony Abbott to intervene and take over the Hazelwood power station before it closes.

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has rejected calls from his predecessor Tony Abbott to intervene and take over the Hazelwood power station before it closes.

Mr Turnbull told 3AW this morning that the government would not step in to keep Hazelwood running, saying the decision to close it was a matter for French energy giant Engie.

The Prime Minister said the Australian Energy Market Operator had assured him that the closure of Hazelwood would not increase the risk of blackouts in Victoria.

Mr Abbott has urged Malcolm Turnbull bail out Hazelwood and keep it running until alternate sources of base load power can be secured.

The former PM dramatically intervened in Australia’s looming energy crisis, claiming millions of taxpayer dollars should keep the coal-fired power station — due to close its doors next week — alive until the until “Snowy 2.0” comes online.

Hazelwood Power station and coal mine. Picture: David Caird.

Writing exclusively in the Herald Sun, Mr Abbott say government intervention to save 22 per cent of Victoria’s power supply — previously ruled out by Premier Daniel Andrews and Mr Turnbull — would not be bailing out a failing business.

“If we want secure and affordable power supplies, we can’t lose the ones we currently have even if they involve burning coal,” Mr Abbott writes.

He says while brown coal is more emissions intensive than gas, it has given Victoria and South Australia “cheap, reliable base load power” and made them manufacturing hubs.

“And until equally cost effective and reliable alternative supplies can be established, having Hazelwood close is sheer, avoidable folly,” he writes.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said last night: “Engie have made it abundantly clear that it is not economically viable to keep the plant open past April 1, and that there have been no credible approaches made.”

“The Hazelwood power plant requires hundreds of millions of dollars for backlog maintenance just to stay open.”

Sources have told the Herald Sun the cost to repair it would be “in excess of $1 billion”.

Related content:

• Andrew Bolt: Electric solution is just pretence
• State Government unveils transition scheme to help Hazelwood workers
• CFMEU: Some Andrews Government MPs still have ‘head in sand’
• OPINION: Why Hazelwood should stay open: Abbott

Its understood there would also be major workplace safety issues should the plant continue beyond this year.

But industry groups approached the government this week seeking intervention to keep the power plant open until a short-term replacement for its power out is found.

It came amid warnings from the energy market operator warns that Victoria faced 72 days of possible power supply shortfalls over the next two years following the plant’s shutdown.

Mr Abbott writes that keeping Hazelwood open would be “a good way for Prime Minister Turnbull to show that energy policy in Australia won’t be hijacked by ideological fixations in France”.

“One of the factors in its looming closure — not the only one but an important one — is the French socialist government (which part owns Engie, which part owns Hazelwood) wanting to boast that it has closed down one of the world’s “dirtiest” power stations.”

The Australian Energy Market Operator last night said the closure of Hazelwood would not compromise the security of the Victoria electricity system.

“There are power generation resources available in Victoria and the National Market System that currently are not operating at all or to their full capacity that can be made available to replace the power currently supplied by Hazelwood,” it said in a statement.

“AEMO’s market analysis reveals these resources exceed the 1600 megawatts (MW) capacity of Hazelwood.

“AEMO has the necessary authority to ensure the security of the system and over the next several months will work with market participants in gas and electricity markets to ensure all necessary plans are in place to secure summer reliability.”

It came as Australian Industry Group chief Innes Willox, said today his members were not convinced that the risks to energy users are being managed effectively and their confidence in both energy prices and supply is eroding.

“While the risks are most acute for energy-intensive industries, they have implications for businesses along all domestic supply chains, their employees as well as for households. In the absence of convincing and appropriately sequenced alternative strategies, the state and federal governments should remain open to finding an 11th hour solution to keeping Hazelwood operating in some form,” he said.

Environment Victoria’s Mark Wakeham said Mr Abbott was showing that he’s “as much of a relic of a bygone era as Hazelwood”.

“First Mr Abbott scrapped Australia’s carbon laws which made polluters pay for their pollution. Then he replaced these effective laws with a policy which used taxpayers money to pay polluters to stop polluting. Now he wants to use taxpayers money to encourage one of the world’s dirtiest power stations to keep polluting. Its nonsense on stilts,” Mr Wakeham said.