AGL takes first step in closing the Liddell Power Station

AGL’s closure of the first Liddell Power Station unit on Friday will deliver an annual reduction in greenhouse emissions equivalent to taking 400,000 cars off the road.

AGL Energy will on Friday start the long process of closing the Liddell Power Station – closing the first unit of the coal plant in the NSW Hunter region.

Liddell is expected to be completely shuttered by April 2023, and the company says the site will be converted into an integrated, low-carbon industrial energy hub.

“We announced the retirement of Liddell in 2015 and seven years later we are pleased to be in a position to begin the orderly and responsible closure and transition of the power station in line with our climate commitments,” said the company’s chief operating officer Markus Brokhof.

“As the power station nears the end of its technical life, we are focused on ensuring it continues to operate safely for our people while providing power reliably.

“The transition of the Liddell site into the Hunter Energy Hub will continue to take shape between now and the site’s full closure next year. We are excited about our clean energy plans in the Hunter region, including grid-scale battery, solar thermal storage, wind, hydrogen and pumped hydro projects.”

The Liddell Power Station, first commissioned in the early 1970s, has four units. The three remaining units will close next year.

The accelerated closure of the plant, first announced by former AGL boss Andy Vesey in 2017, led to a spectacular brawl between the energy company and then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who summoned Mr Vesey to Canberra and demanded Liddell be kept open for at least another five years. The company was also accused by various Coalition MPs of trying to force up the price of power by closing Liddell too early.

The company had also contemplated selling the plant – having been approached by Alinta Energy and with interest from businessman Trevor St Baker, owner of Vales Point, in late 2019.

The closure of the first Liddell unit will deliver an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is equivalent to taking around 400,000 cars off the road, AGL said in a statement.

As part of the new energy hub, AGL has announced a memorandum of understanding with Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries to explore green hydrogen, a 500MW grid-scale battery and a hydro power station.

AGL earlier this year said it would also bring forward the closure windows for its other coal-fired power stations – Bayswater and Loy Yang A.

AGL is also proposed to split into two, becoming an energy retailer while Accel Energy will be the country’s largest electricity generator, housing the thermal sites and renewable energy hubs.