Coalition Insists Nuclear Is Viable for Hunter Despite Earthquakes

BY PETER HYSLOP

The Federal Opposition says the site of the former Liddell Power Station is still key to its nuclear plan despite recent earthquakes and operator AGL's refusal to cooperate.

Yesterday, Muswellbrook residents felt a 3.1 magnitude tremor following larger quakes in August, raising concerns the site may not be appropriate to host a nuclear power plant.

It comes as Liddell owner AGL refuses to accommodate the Coalition's plans, and hopes to build a 500 megawatt battery instead.

Member for Lyne Dr David Gillespie says despite the concerns, a nuclear reactor could still be built.

"It's not a binary choice, you can still have a battery on the site of a nuclear power plant.

"Building nuclear plants on the site of old coal plants is still the best option because all the infrastructure is already there.

"The nuclear power plants that are built these days are built to withstand earthquakes. They don't get built unless they do that."

Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi has shot back at the Coalition. 

He says a nuclear reactor is not an appropriate solution for the Hunter.

"The earthquakes have really shown that this area is not suitable for a nuclear power station.

"Residents of the Hunter deserve cheaper power prices and nuclear is not the way to go for that" he says.

It comes as Liddell owner AGL refuses to accommodate the Coalition's plans, as it hopes to build a 500 megawatt battery instead.

A concept design of a zero emissions small modular reactor the Coalition has put forward.

AGL Expected To Close Bayswater Power Station Early

 BY IAN CROUCH

Energy giant, AGL is expected to announce the early closure of its Bayswater Power Station at Muswellbrook today.

The company had previously indicated the plant, which employs 600 workers, would close sometime between 2030 and 2033, but has now confirmed the early closure date.

The new timeframe is 5 years earlier than originally announced.

Although AGL has recently completed a 152-million dollar upgrade of the plant, the pressure to reduce emissions and the rise of renewables is believed to be behind the decision to close early. 

Bayswater Power Station To Close In 2030

AGL Kicks Off Transition Planning for Liddell Power Station

BY DAKOTA TAIT

AGL has launched the 12 week planning process to transform the Liddell Power Station into a renewable energy hub ahead of the site's closure in 2022-23.

The electricity giant will work with engineering contractor Delta Group to establish steps to decommission and remediate the station's infrastructure.

The redeveloped site is set to focus on technologies such as solar energy storage, grid-scale batteries, and waste-to-energy processing.

AGL Chief Operating Officer Markus Brokhof says it's a bittersweet but inevitable milestone for one of the Hunter's biggest energy suppliers.

"The station is now nearing the end of its technical life and our transition program is about ensuring the safety of our people and preparing other sources of generation to continue delivering reliable electricity," Mr Brokhof said.

"Australia’s future energy needs will be delivered through a combination of technologies - gas, hydrogen, pumped-hydro, renewables and firming technologies and industrial developments."

Image credit: https://thehub.agl.com.au/

AGL Macquarie Ordered To Give $100,000 To Community Projects Following Breach Of Regulations

BY IAN CROUCH

Energy giant AGL says it's committed to complying with all its environmental obligations after breaching coal ash monitoring regulations in the Upper Hunter.

The company advised the Environmental Protection Authority in January 2019 of errors discovered in the way it sampled and analysed coal ash from its Liddell and Bayswater Power Stations near Muswellbrook, used to gauge air qualty in the local area.

AGL has entered into an enforceable undertaking with the EPA agreeing to pay $82,000 towards the installation of air monitoring equipment in the Upper Hunter and $18,000 to the Singleton Shire Landcare Network towards the Col Fisher Park Weed Eradication Project. In addition, the company is required to pay the EPA's investigation and legal costs amounting to $37,356.

In a statement, an AGL spokesman says the company engaged consultants to conduct extensive sampling of it's coal ash and review the company's historical results. "We engaged another external expert, Environmental Risk Sciences Pty Ltd, to carry out a comprehensive human health and ecological risk assessment which confirmed that the beneficial reuse of coal ash did not pose any risks to human health and is not a concern to the environment", the spokesman said.

The company says it's since worked exclusively with the EPA to update their sampling plans and procedures to fully address the issues identified and has worked cooperatively with the Authority to ensure it complies with its obligations.

Bayswater Power Station

                                          



                                                  

 

AGL Power Shortage Creates Issues for Tomago Smelter

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

AGL has curtailed electricity supply to the Tomago Aluminium Smelter on two occasions this week, and the federal opposition says it's bad news for the Hunter economy.

The energy giant is arguing the smelter accepted a commercial agreement to reduce output rather than pay increased power bills.

The curtailment follows energy shortages at Bayswater and Liddell power stations earlier this week, while there was also a limited amount of power emerging from Victoria via the interstate interconnector.

Tomago Smelter claims a thermal imbalance resulted from the power limitations imposed for 45 minutes on Tuesday night and again for two hours on Thursday evening, as workers attempted to restore the potline system.

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon is pointing the finger at the Prime Minister's attempts to revive the ageing Liddell station, which is set to close in 2022, rather than developing new strategies.

"The under capacity we have in electricity supply is the result of years of policy inaction by the Abbott and Turnbull governments," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"We can't fix that mistake now, but we can ask Malcolm Turnbull to get out of the way and allow AGL to build the new generation capacity they are promising here in the Hunter."

Joel Fitzgibbon and Paterson MP, Meryl Swanson fear Hunter jobs may be lost if we keep following this trajectory.

"Tomago Aluminium and its workforce are paying the price for five years of energy policy inaction..." Ms Swanson said.

Image: Tomago Aluminium. 

AGL Denies Sitting On Power Solution

BY MADELAINE  MCNEILL

AGL Energy has defended itself following media speculation it has the solution to an expected power shortfall but has done nothing about it.

It was reported the electricity company holds an approved concept plan for a new coal-fired power station called Bayswater B that would be built next to the existing Liddell plant.

Reports say the plan was originally made by Macquarie Generation before AGL purchased the company.

There are concerns Liddell's closure in 2022 will see an 850-megawatt power deficit that could increase consumers' bills, and media reports suggest a new plant could be the solution.

A statement from the company said, "AGL has never sought and does not have planning approval to build a new power station at Bayswater."

AGL announces $400 million gas-fired plant

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

Plans for a 252-megawatt gas-fired electricity plant near Newcastle have been unveiled today by AGL.

The $400 million project will consist of 14 reciprocating engine units capable of generating 18 megawatts of energy each, with construction set to be complete sometime in 2022.

AGL is currently assessing sites for the project, but it's expected to be located near the energy giant's Newcastle Gas Storage Facility in Tomago.

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has expressed concerns the new plant will not make up for a 1600 megawatt defecit created by the closure of Muswellbrook's Liddell coal-fired station.

Mr Frydenberg is still pushing for AGL to sell-off the ageing site to Hong Kong-based rival, Alinta, before it shuts down in 2022.

However Managing Director and CEO of AGL, Andy Vesey said the company is committed to filling the void leftover while also supporting Australia's transition to renewable energy.

"It's a three-phase plan which, at its completion will have reduced the impact of the closure of Liddell - providing NSW with reliable, affordable and sustainable energy for decades," Mr Vesey said.

He said AGL has given the government seven years' notice and now wants to push forward with the first phase of the NSW Generation Plan.

"This is a plan which [the Australian Energy Market Operator] reviewed and said if implemented," he continued, "will eliminate the impact of the closure of Liddell."

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald said the NSW government is looking forward to receiving a development application for the program soon, as it aligns with their future energy goals.

"The Berejiklian government has been one of the early adopters of the National Energy Guarantee," Mr MacDonald said.

"...This is what we've been looking for; it's saying to the market, if we give you the guidelines and the certainty you can go out there and make that capital investment that we're looking at here."

The Newcastle project comes in conjunction with a similar 210-megawatt gas plant in South Australia and a collective 653-megawatt renewable focus through wind farms in Queensland and NSW.

Stage One involves the Tomago plant announced today, an efficiency upgrade to the Hunter's Bayswater Power Station and an agreement for AGL to offtake 300 megawatts of solar capacity from the Sunraysia Solar Project by Maoenang Australia.

Stages Two and Three involve further projects necessary under commercial and industrial demand, and are subject to Board approval.

A similar AGL station under construction in South Australia. Image: SMH. 

PM pushes for extension to Liddell function

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

The federal government is ramping up the pressure on AGL to sell or extend the life of Muswellbrook's Liddell Power Station.

Liddell is the oldest coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley, however, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull believes it is "manifestly in the public interest" for AGL to keep the station running beyond its planned closure in 2022.

It's understood an informal approach has been made to AGL by rival company, Alinta Energy, to buy Liddell, while the Prime Minister phoned AGL chief executive Andy Vesey on Tuesday to discuss the move.

Malcolm Turnbull said the power giant would be doing the "right thing by their customers, by the community, and I think by their own shareholders, to keep this plant going for another four or five years or sell it to somebody who is prepared to do so."

However, Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has labelled the idea as a way for the Prime Minister to repent for failures in the energy sector in the eyes of voters.

"I believe the Prime Minister is playing catch-up and thinking more about the next election and his failures in energy than concerns about the Hunter," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"I have no problem with Liddell operating for a few more years," he continued,"in fact I welcome that, but whether AGL can come to a commercial arrangement with a buyer is an entirely different matter," he said.

The MP thinks there is no point keeping the station running a few extra years if it eliminates investment plans for renewable technologies which could create and sustain jobs for years to come.

Environmental Justice Australia's Dr James Whelan has slammed the idea, following the release of new data showing a growing level of emissions coming from Hunter Valley coal-fired power stations like Bayswater and Liddell.

There was a 69% jump in dangerous fine particle emissions at Bayswater, while a massive 179% spike was recorded at Lake Macquarie's Vales Point Power Station.

"Air pollution kills more than 3000 Australians prematurely every year," Dr Whelan explained,"a lot of the health effects are from fine particles from coal-fired power stations, while sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen have acute and short-term respiratory impacts that can cause asthma attacks and hospital admissions for inflamed throats."

He said given the health risks posed by non-renewable energy generation, the extension of the old Liddell station is a terrible idea.

"We're dismayed by the jockeying for the Liddell Power Station...it's toxic, old and inefficient and its time has come.

"Closing Liddell would have a huge health benefit on the communities in the Hunter Valley, we'd see 183,000 kilograms less fine particle pollution each year," Dr Whelan said.

Meanwhile, Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen is pushing for a new high-energy, low emissions (HELE) coal power station to be built in his electorate.

He's praised the efforts of 20 federal backbenchers including former PM Tony Abbott, who are lobbying for better energy guarantees to drive down energy costs by increasing demand.

Michael Johnsen says they have the funds [raked in from a regional NSW $4.1 billion-dollar cut of the Snowy Hydro sale] to make it happen.

"Families are feeling the cost of electricity in their home budgets, and businesses are feeling the costs, which puts a lot of jobs at risk," he said.

"We can't afford that...we've got the resources, the expertise and the infrastructure and we should be building new HELE coal-fired power stations."

Resurrected? Liddell could be saved from retirement in 2022. Image: ABC.

AGL announces huge upgrade for Bayswater Power Station

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

A major upgrade is set to take place at Bayswater Power Station at Muswellbrook.  

AGL announced the plans this morning, which will see a $200 million dollar revamp of the plant and 90 jobs created during construction work.

The Bayswater revival comes as part of the NSW Generation Plan which aims to plug a projected energy shortage of 1000 megawatts expected to hit after the closure of Liddell Power Station in 2022.

When complete, Bayswater will power up to 100, 000 Hunter homes - and according to AGL, the improvements will come without added coal consumption or emissions.

AGL Macquarie General Manager, Kate Coates said the project will see modern, energy-efficient turbines installed to reduce emissions. 

"This work, which incorporates modern turbine design, will improve the power station's efficiency...This project will ensure Bayswater's upgraded units will be optimal by 2022 and will be ready to power-on until the closure of the station in 2035," Ms Coates said.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald and Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen announced the upgrade will be assessed by the Department of Planning and Environment.

"From the NSW Government perspective," Mr MacDonald said, "it's important that AGL has a plan to cover the retirement of the Liddell Power Station, and they've put that plan to the NSW government.

"It's quite a comprehensive suite of different generation," Mr MacDonald approved.

"Energy generation is changing; there's no doubt about it, it's complex, but I think we've got comfort now that AGL has put a lot of thought into this," he said.

Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen also spruked the economic benefits of the move.

"It's very important for our local economy and our electorate," he said, "...to be able to generate that base-load power for the state from the power-generating powerhouse of the Upper Hunter electorate is very important."

Image Source: Andrew Sario.