Australia’s largest coal-fired power plant will close seven years earlier than planned, joining a long list of coal plants forced to go offline due to the rapid rise of wind and cheap solar power. on the country’s electricity grid.
The owner of the Origin plant, a gas and utilities producer, said the massive 2.88 gigawatt Eraring power station, located in Sydney’s coal-rich Hunter region north of Sydney, is increasingly unable to compete with “streams”. recycled energy”.
“The Australian energy market today is very different from what it was when Eraring went online in the early 1980s,” said Origin CEO Frank Calabria.
“[The] the reality is that the economics of coal-fired power plants are under increasing pressure, unsustainable by cleaner and lower-cost production, including solar, wind and battery power. ”
Now, Eraring will close in 2025, not 2032. Calabria says Origin will install a grid-scale battery at the factory site.
Last week, fellow utility provider AGL announced it would close two of its own coal plants. Energy Australia, the third of three major utilities, announced last year that it would decommission a coal plant five years earlier than planned.
All three companies have seen their coal production income decline in recent years, driven by the dual effect of low prices and the need to keep coal plants running even at uneconomical times to keep coal plants running. do like that.
Australia is dependent on coal-fired power for nearly 60% of its electricity, making it one of the highest per capita carbon emitters.
