EnergyAustralia’s plan for its NSW coal power station points to a more flexible role for the technology than has previously been envisaged to support renewables.
It’s no longer “on” and then “off” when it comes to Australia’s coal power stations, as developments this week have made clear.
Managing director Mark Collette outlined a scenario where the 1400-megawatt Mount Piper generator would gradually move from ramping down each of its units to about 20 per cent of their capacity to fit alongside renewable energy, to switching off altogether for a couple of days at a time. Mount Piper would be reduced to that minimum generating load increasingly often, allowing the generator to minimise its exposure to periods in the wholesale market when prices can slump to zero or even fall into negative territory.
The plant’s operation would still need to fit within government targets for renewable energy use and emissions reduction, which includes a 70 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2035 from 2005 levels, and net zero emissions by 2050.
In Victoria, meanwhile, this week’s deal for AGL’s 2210MW Loy Yang A generator until its scheduled closure in 2035 is the second by the government to prevent a premature closure on economic grounds of a major power supply source, after its 2021 accord with EnergyAustralia for the Yallourn plant. “It is solving a different problem – we still see a need to ensure that there is sufficient reliable capacity through the energy transition,” he said.
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