The Greens NSW are calling for the deal to extend the life of Eraring power station to be scrapped, following claims that the Minns Labor Government distorted energy market modelling to support the decision.
Central Coast’s Greens MLC and spokesperson for Energy and Treasury, Abigail Boyd, says that the NSW Labor Government has been “caught red-handed cooking the books, and in turn cooking the planet, on this shameful Eraring deal”.
“Perhaps we should have seen it coming more clearly, after we uncovered evidence that Labor had distorted the procurement process to ensure their preferred candidate, fossil fuel industry lobbyist and former Labor staffer Cameron O’Reilly, was selected to provide the Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Up report on which they have been basing so many of their decisions,” she said.
“In light of this evidence, Labor must immediately move to unscramble this hopelessly compromised agreement with Origin Energy.
“There are almost no words for the betrayal that these revelations have laid bare and the Minns Labor Government has broken all trust with the overwhelming majority of the public who wants to see real action on climate change.”
Boyd said that Labor could not be trusted on climate.
“What we need is a clear transition plan for closing down our coal-fired power stations, taking into account not just energy reliability, but also the quickest way to bring down our greenhouse gas emissions while still supporting workers and communities,” she said.
Eraring Power Station, on the southern shores of Lake Macquarie, was to close mid-2025 but the NSW Government successfully negotiated a two-year extension with Origin Energy.
The aim was to ensure energy reliability and stabilising prices during the state’s diversification from coal-fired power to renewable energy sources.
Under the new agreement, Eraring will remain operational until August 2027, addressing concerns highlighted by the Australian Energy Market Operator that without Eraring, NSW could face energy reliability risks starting in 2025.
Origin will have the option of taking up an underwriting arrangement with the NSW Government to cover no more than 80 per cent of financial losses from the Eraring operation up to $225M a year until mid-2027, but on the other hand Origin is to share up to $40M per year of any profits it earns from Eraring.
Eraring is expected to cease operations on August 19, 2027, and be permanently closed before April 2029.
This will ensure that Eraring’s closure will contribute to NSW meeting its legislated 2030 emissions reduction target.
The extension of Eraring’s operations received a mixed reception, with some stakeholders praising the move for ensuring energy reliability, while others were critical over the implications on renewable energy and climate goals.
According to the Department of Environment, NSW is already about halfway towards meeting the state’s 2030 renewable generation target.
Sue Murray
Abigail Boyd, will you buy us all the candles we need? What we really need is a clear and affordable path to inexpensive power. Closing down our coal-fired power stations is certainly not going to achieve that! It’s completely delusional to think that shutting down coal-fired plants to rely solely on renewables is a good idea!