COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS – NEW SOUTH WALES

Origin to tip $600m into battery

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 21-Apr-23

Origin Energy stated in February that it will close the Eraring coal-fired power station in 2025, and that it intends to build a battery on the station. Origin has now made a final investment decision to proceed with the $600 million battery, which will have a capacity of 460MW, with the option to increase it to 700MW. At a capacity of 460MW, the battery will have a dispatch duration of two hours; this would increase to four hours at 700MW.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG

Coalminers told to keep the lights on

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Original article by Perry Williams, Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Jan-23

The NSW government will require the majority of mining companies to reserve up to 10 per cent of their thermal coal output in the state for the domestic market. The domestic coal reservation policy is expected to be implemented by the end of January. The government had previously only required some thermal coal miners to reserve part of their output for the state’s power stations, but this prompted complaints that it placed an unfair burden on a small number of ­producers. Coal-fired power stations generate about 60 per cent of the state’s electricity supply.

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AGL defies Coalition over Liddell closure

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Sep-18

AGL Energy’s interim CEO Brett Redman has reaffirmed its commitment to exiting coal-fired power generation and its proposed closure of the Liddell power station in 2022. However, Redman has told the company’s AGM that AGL will seek to work with the federal government to reduce electricity prices. Relations between AGL and the government became strained under former CEO Andy Vesey over the closure of Liddell, prompting Energy Minister Angus Taylor to warn of potential intervention if electricity retailers do not take action to reduce prices.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ENVIRONMENT VICTORIA

Alinta Energy turns up heat on AGL with $250m Liddell bid

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 1-May-18

Ian Myles of Macquarie Group says Alinta Energy’s offer to buy AGL Energy’s Liddell coal-fired power station is "opportunistic", while Mark Busuttil of JP Morgan adds that AGL would be unlikely to consider such a low offer. AGL itself has repeatedly stressed that Liddell is not for sale as the power station will be required until its scheduled closure in 2022, with the site to then be used to generate renewable energy. Alinta recently signalled its intention to make a formal offer to buy Liddell.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CHOW TAI FOOK ENTERPRISES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, MANUFACTURING AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Alinta’s $1bn bid for coal power station

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Original article by Ben Packham, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Apr-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison have urged AGL Energy to consider selling the Liddell power station, which is slated to close in 2022. Alinta Energy has advised that it is preparing to make an indicative offer of around $A1bn for the coal-fired power plant, and CEO Jeff Dimery is confident that his company can extend the ageing plant’s operational life at a significantly lower cost than AGL has estimated. AGL in turn has argued that it needs to retain Liddell as the site will be used to supply alternative sources of energy beyond the existing plant’s closure.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE GENERATION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, CS ENERGY LIMITED, DELTA ELECTRICITY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHANDONG RUYI TECHNOLOGY GROUP COMPANY LIMITED

New threat to power supply

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Original article by Mark Ludlow, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Sep-17

Consumers and businesses face further electricity price rises as operators of coal-fired power plants in New South Wales are having to pay higher prices for coal under new supply contracts. NSW power stations’ coal usage has also risen sharply in the wake of the closure of the Hazelwood plant in Victoria, while the state’s coal mines are struggling to meet demand as 80 per cent of their output is exported. Limited capacity on the NSW rail freight network is also a challenge for power generators, while there is an ongoing industrial dispute at Glencore’s coal mines.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DELTA ELECTRICITY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL

Watchdog slams AGL on Liddell

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Sep-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission had opposed the sale of Macquarie Generation – which owned the Liddell and Bayswater power stations – to AGL Energy in 2014. ACCC chairman Rod Sims believes that the $A1.5bn deal has contributed to the rising cost of electricity, noting that the competition regulator had warned of this at the time. AGL is under growing scrutiny over its plans to shut down the Liddell power station in 2022. The Federal Government recently set a deadline of 90 days for AGL develop a plan to replace the ageing plant’s output of 1,000 megawatts.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, MACQUARIE GENERATION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, VERTIUM ASSET MANAGEMENT, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ALCOA INCORPORATED

Turnbull’s power deal with AGL

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Sep-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg held talks with AGL Energy CEO Andy Vesey regarding the Liddell coal-fired power station on 11 September. Vesey agreed to a 90-day deadline to develop a plan to replace the ageing power station’s output. He will also put a proposal to the AGL board to sell the power station or keep it open for five years beyond its slated shutdown in 2022. The Australian ­Energy Market Operator has estimated that an extra 1,000 megawatts of electricity generation will be needed to offset the closure of Liddell.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST

Nationals rally against energy plan

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 7 : 11-Sep-17

The National Party’s federal council has passed a motion opposing a clean energy target. The same motion called for Australia’s renewable energy target to be set at 23 per cent in 2020, and for there to be no subsidisation of any energy source after that date. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg are set to meet AGL Energy CEO Andy Vesey over the future of AGL’s Liddell coal-fired power plant. AGL wants to close it in 2022, but the Federal Government wants AGL to sell the plant.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

$9bn power hit for big firms

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Original article by Eli Greenblat, Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Sep-17

National Australia Bank’s chief economist Alan Oster has forecast that higher energy costs will add 0.6 per cent to the headline inflation rate for the September quarter. Companies that are major energy users estimate that their electricity and gas costs will rise by $A9bn, which in turn will affect profit margins, jobs and investment. Meanwhile, AGL Energy has advised that it has made no commitment to sell its Liddell power station or keep it operating beyond the planned closure date of 2022. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has claimed that AGL CEO Andy Vesey had indicated that the company would be open to selling the power station.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, DELTA ENERGY PTY LTD, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TOMAGO ALUMINIUM COMPANY PTY LTD, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, PACT GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX PGH, COSTA GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX CGC, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL