Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
One word... "Green"
It is a dirty filthy EVIL brown coal power plant. It is the scum of all human filth in respects to power generation and must be shut down!!!
Of course it's being shut down on idealology but there isn't any real plans. The plant is going to be turned into a green reserve, the excavation area is going to be turned into a lake and populated by fish for the locals to go fishing in. At least the hundreds of locals will have something to do to pass the time while looking for work 
Victoria is currently building some wind farms (seen how reliable they are) but they may or may not be in operation before the plant shuts down next March. I personally believe that the plant should be shut down in time, maybe a decade or so after we've got the infrastructure to replace it in place. |
I think that it closes in 2 weeks Colin - the company cites (as reasons) it's plan to focus on low carbon technology and (presumably) because they could not make enough bucks out of it with the current excess generation capability in Victoria.. As far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with the Government, but who knows. Interesting snippet on reading is that the cost just to decommission and tidy up Hazelwood will be about 2x as much as the planned SA upgrade - nothing comes cheap in the power world.
from the Engie website:
"
ENGIE in Australia announces it will close Hazelwood coal power generation station and the adjoining mine, in the State of Victoria, Australia. The closure will be effective at the end of March 2017.
The closure of Hazelwood is in line with ENGIE’s strategy to gradually end its coal activities. This is laid out in the Group’s transformation plan that aims at concentrating solely on low-carbon projects for power generation, renewable energy and natural gas. In 2016, ENGIE has already sold or closed coal assets which represent more than 5 GW of capacity.
Besides, Hazelwood power station has been operating in difficult market conditions, with lower electricity prices and a surplus of electricity supply in Victoria State.
.....
ENGIE also announces today that it is studying the possible sale of two of its power production assets in Australia: Loy Yang B coal power station and Kwinana gas power station.
ENGIE has a strong presence in the energy industry in Australia through its gas and wind-generating assets in South Australia, with a total of 2 GW of capacities. It is also developing or contracting wind and solar power generation across Australia. Simply Energy, its energy retailer, is approaching 600,000 electricity and gas accounts following organic growth of 75% during the last four years and is continuing to expand into the photovoltaic and battery storage market, while ENGIE Services develops cost-saving smart energy services and facilities management.