After more than five decades, it’s lights out for one of the Hunter Valley’s oldest operating coal-fired plants this month.
But, the closure of Liddell Power Station, located between Muswellbrook and Singleton, on 28 April marks major progress in the state’s plan to embrace clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy, according to the Climate Council.
“It’s now 52 [this year] and is showing its age,” senior researcher Dr Carl Tidemann said.
“So, it’s time to start retiring old and failing coal.
“When Liddell first came online, Australian troops were still deployed to the Vietnam War.
“Seatbelts were still optional for most of the country.
“Richard Nixon was the US President.
“Times have certainly changed in the past half century and so has the way we generate and store power.”
Australia’s leading community-funded climate change communications organisation believes Liddell has consistently failed to produce its maximum amount of power.
In fact, the station had to be restarted 335 times in 2022.
“Even though Liddell has a listed maximum output of 2.2 gigawatts, one of its four units was already closed in 2022, reducing that figure to a headline rate of 1.65 gigawatts,” Dr Tidemann explained.
“And, because of its age, it has persistently been unable to produce this amount of power.
“A recent report found that the power station has offered a maximum capacity of 1.25 gigawatts to the spot market… and only in a small percentage of periods.
“The average capacity available was well below this at 800 megawatts.
“This means the National Electricity Market is not losing two gigawatts of capacity, but rather somewhere between 800 megawatts and 1.25 gigawatts.”
Since the power station’s closure was announced in 2017, electricity generation from renewables in NSW has more than quadrupled – and is now more than double the output from Liddell (from 4.2 to 17 terawatt hours in 2022).
“There is an abundant pipeline of renewable energy projects firing up to replace Liddell’s capacity,” Dr Tidemann said.
“Australians are feeling the pinch with their power bills, so the sooner we get off unreliable coal-fired power and expensive gas by switching to 100% cheap and reliable renewables, the better.
“AGL gave six years’ notice of Liddell’s closure, which has allowed workers and the industry time to prepare for a smooth and managed exit.
“This is a textbook example of how the transformation of our energy system can work.”
Dr Tidemann said renewable projects in the pipeline for NSW included AGL’s big battery, which will have a capacity of 250 megawatts, and the New England Solar Farm, which will eventually be sized at 720 megawatts.
The Australian Energy Market Operator also expects more to come online in the next few years.
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