vales point power station closure vales point power station closure

Description. . The Vales Point Power Plant is currently set for closure in 2029, but the EPA ruling delivered on 28 October 2022 could bring that date forward to 2025. These fossil fuel power stations burn coal to power steam turbines that generate some or all of the electricity they produce. It was commissioned in 1978 and is located on the southern shore of Lake Macquarie. The grant was to pay for upgrades to a turbine at the Vales Point power station, increasing its thermal efficiency, allowing an additional 30MW of output for the same amount of coal burnt. One is electrolysis that uses electricity to split water, which can be powered by renewables in an emissions-free process and is known as green hydrogen. (Delta Electricity have also flagged the possibility of the proposed plant being built on the the site of the nearby Liddell power station, which is slated for closure in 2022. air pollution exemption granted to Vales Point power station by the NSW EPA was successfully challenged by environment and legal groups. One uses gas and the other uses coal or gas, and for either to be a clean energy source they require carbon capture and storage to stop the emissions from the fossil fuels entering the atmosphere. The coal for Vales Point is delivered by conveyor and a balloon loop connection to the Main Northern railway line between Wyee and Morisset. Delta also blamed ongoing regulatory and policy uncertainty, which it said, does not represent an appropriate investment environment.. With only an approximately seven-year operating life now remaining, and a very weak wholesale electricity forward curve, we believe Yallourns permanent exit may still be even earlier than now planned, Goldman Sachs analyst Baden Moore said. We already have really low NOx emissions, lower than Bayswater and Mt Piper, and we are doing operational changes, and we believe that we will meet whatever the requirements are going to be.. On this basis, Delta respectfully and regrettably advises that it will not submit an application for UNGI grant for the proposed Vales Point power station efficiency upgrade project, Delta Electricity said. The announcement today by Original doesnt change Vales Points position, said the spokesperson. Eraring and Vales Point power stations could be running multi-million dollar annual losses by 2025, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report found. As owners for the last eight years, Esprey and St Baker Family Trust have positioned the business to continue essential operations through the energy transition, but recognise that there are opportunities to grow the business and that this can be better accomplished in a portfolio with Sev.ens other base-load capable generation interests, he said. AGL, rival Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia have all brought forward the dates for closure of coal-fired power stations since the start of 2021, triggering suggestions that some other coal generators may need to keep running for longer to keep electricity supply secure amid the rise of weather-dependent wind and solar power. Read more:The power station offloaded by the NSW Government for $1 million suddenly has a future. As outlined in the budget speech and subsequent announcement, the budget allocation has a funding cap of $8.7m, which is below that which Delta requested, leaving a substantially higher quantum of funding by Delta, Delta said in the letter. AGL said it was still committed to its plans for Liddell. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. The black coal operators run at a much higher short-run marginal cost and so those nearing the end of their technical lives may be re-evaluating their closure dates, Mr Allen said. The EPA granted Delta an exemption to the licence, however, the exemption went hand in hand with an order to reduce daily levels. Vales Point was commissioned in 1978, and its two turbines generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity, accounting for 11 percent of NSWs energy. Cockle Creek Power Station was located in Teralba, New South Wales, Australia on the banks of Cockle Creek. They would be Australias first high-efficiency, low emissions stations, Mr St Baker said. Given that the ongoing operation of the Vales Point power station remains subject to market forces, and noting the current forecast closure date of 2029 may come forward or be deferred on the strength of these market forces, the benefits arising from the remaining life of Vales Point power station and the proposed project have been diminished by the passage of time, Delta said. 15% of Wyong and 11% of Gosford population suffer from 3 or more chronic health conditions including asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, compared to 5% or less across Sydney. Mr St Baker, who bought Vales Point power station from the NSW Government for a song in 2015 and made $113 million in profit on the deal in 2017-18, has outlined plans for a new plant at Liddell or Vales Point as part of a $6 billion proposal for three coal-fired power stations in NSW and Victoria. Vales Point Power Station is one of two operating coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. The proposed plant would adjoin the existing 1320 MW Vales Point power station owned by Delta Electricity. It is understood that the joint owner of Delta, and significant political donor, Trevor St Baker, had been told informally in early 2020 that it was set to receive $11 million in grant funding from the Morrison government to fund the $20 million turbine upgrade. The ageing Vales Point coal-fired power station on the New South Wales Central Coast, due to close in 2029, was given a stay of execution in the federal budget. Please correct the marked field(s) below. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. To disable your cookies, please click on Settings. Vales Point was the first major power station in New South Wales to be located near its fuel source (coal). Energy Australia will close the Yallourn power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley in mid-2028, four years ahead of schedule, and build a giant battery instead. the practices of Delta Electricity, past and present that are driving a range of water pollution impacts in Lake Macquarie, the sale of the power station to Se.ven Global Investments, Closure planning, decontamination and rehabilitation. In its home market, it runs two coal power generators and two combined heat and power plants. Coal transport and infrastructure in Australia, Key developments in coal mining and power in Australia in 2012, Financing coal power stations in Australia, Underwriting New Generation Investments program, "Delivering affordable and reliable power", "Federal government shortlists upgrade of Vales Point power station turbine", https://www.gem.wiki/w/index.php?title=Vales_Point_A_power_station_(replacement)&oldid=241402, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. The sale will facilitate this growth as Sev.en has shown a commitment to the sector and an ambition to expand, both in Australia and globally.. We do not want this in foreign hands. Delta Energys plans for Vales Point power station at Mannering Park will go unchanged despite the announcement by Origin Energy on February 17 that it will close Eraring Australias largest power station seven years early. Mr St Bakers proposal was also raised as the Federal Government approved the controversial Wallarah 2 underground coal mine north of Wyong, leading critics to warn the government could kiss goodbye to the Liberal-held Central Coast seat of Robertson because the community strongly opposes amine in the regions water catchment. The Vales Point coal-fired power station near the shores of Lake Macquarie, in NSW.Credit:James Whelan. A spokesperson for Delta Energy said there were no plans for Vales Point to go the same way as Eraring. Delta said it complies with the reduced limits for emissions imposed in December 2021 and noted that Vales Point has lower licence limits for NOx than some other generators in NSW such as AGL Energys Bayswater and EnergyAustralias Mt Piper plants. [9][10][11], Vales Point Power Station was used as the location for the Midnight Oil US Forces music video.[12][13]. Mr St Baker said he was looking for international investors after Australian banks and major lenders ruled out exposure to coal project funding, in part because of climate change stranded asset risks. Delta has been contacted for further comment. Coal supplies NSW with an average of 63 percent of its energy requirements, while the National Energy Market average is 59 percent. The pair, who famously bought the generator for $1 million from the NSW government in 2015 and then revalued it at $722 million two years later, agreed to sell their respective 50 per cent stakes in Delta Electricity, the owner of the plant, to the family company Sev.en Global Investments. Thermochemical reactions drive the other two methods. Owners of Vales Point power station turn down $8.7 million grant, blaming the Morrison government for taking too long to approve funds for turbine upgrades. Sold for a song in 2015, the site is expected to be the subject of a new coal-fired power station proposal. The NSW Government has responded to the closure of Eraring by saying that to ensure energy reliability, it will work with industry partners to install the Waratah Super Battery, a 700MW/1400MWh grid battery, by 2025 to release grid capacity so Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong consumers can access more energy from existing electricity generation.. [6], Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 9.32 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning hydrocarbon fuels.[7]. Were working to restore it. USE is forecasted to be greater than the reliability standard from 2027-28 in New South Wales, increasing further from 2029-30 when Vales Point Power Station is expected to retire. The report,China at a Crossroads: Continued Support for Coal Power Erodes Countrys Clean Energy Leadership,found Chinese financial institutions and corporations funded more than 25 per cent of all new coal plants outside China in 2018, or $35.9 billion for projects in 27 countries, excluding Australia. AGL Energy has also brought forward the closure of its 2220 MW Loy Yang A plant in Victoria to 2035. When queried, the department told RenewEconomy that the funding set aside in the budget was considered to represent value for money. It has two steam turbines, with a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW (1,770,000 hp) of electricity. Only this week did the Federal Government flag that commercial interest in the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) has been significant. The Liddel power station in the NSW Hunter is already set to close in 2023, but the report said at least one more closure in the state is likely before 2025. It listed Eraring, Vales Point and Mt Piper in NSW and Yallourn in Victoria as most vulnerable. All rights reserved. Vales Point Power Station sale completed December 18, 2022 by Merilyn Vale Sev.en Global Investments has announced it has completed its acquisition of Delta Electricity Pty Ltd, the parent company of the Vales Point Power Station and the Chain Valley Colliery. Transitioning the Hunter and Central Coast from a fossil fuels manufacturing base to one of renewable generation is underway. News and analysis for the clean energy economy. 287 Elizabeth Street To learn more about how we use information collected with cookies, please read our Privacy Policy. Health at GoPetition. It leaves the Morrison governments UNGI program has still having supported no new generation investments, despite being first announced in October 2018, and announcing a dozen shortlisted projects more than two years ago. Lake Macquarie Home Fishing Fishing closures, restrictions and permits Lake Macquarie The above closures are generated from the Fisheries Management (General) Regulation 2019 unless otherwise specified. Coal-fired power will be needed to keep the lights on for another couple of decades, said Mr St Baker, who is an investor in fast charging system provider Tritium, which listed in New York early this year, and Evie Networks, among other energy interests. The owner blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for reducing demand and an influx of cheaper renewables reducing wholesale electricity prices. The other legacies of coal power include environmental and community impact that cannot be ignored as the closure of power stations take place in NSW. Correspondence obtained through an earlier FOI request shows that Delta Electricity and the department undertook negotiations throughout 2020, ahead of funding being awarded in the federal budget. The facility is old, dirty, and poorly maintained. Vales Point Power Station will have its limits on nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions cut by up to 35% to meet new national air quality standards in the local community, and will have to adhere to strict new monitoring and reporting conditions from next year. Officials from the department told Senate Estimates in March that they were aware that Shine Energy was likely to fail to deliver a bankable feasibility study into a proposed Collinsville coal fired power station after an audit undertaken by the Australian National Audit Office found the $4 million in grant funding awarded to the company was not enough to ensure the study could be completed. NSW is facing a potential shortage of reliable power as coal power stations shut down, with the closure of AGL Energy's Liddell plant in the Hunter Valley in April 2023 set to be followed. Alinta Energys Hong Kong-based owner Chow Tai Fook Enterprises is understood to have fielded approaches for the Australian business, which includes the large Loy Yang B coal power generator in Victoria. AGL Energy announced it would move the. Childhood asthma in the region has also been found to be extremely high (50% greater than in Sydney in spite of city transport fumes) and there is strong evidence that students who attend schools within a 10 Km radius of a coal fired power station have a reduction in learning outcomes due to the emissions from burning coal. In our view, the risk of accelerating coal generation closures is increasing as the market makes room for the rapid addition of renewable generation.. Stop the Sale of Vales Point Power Station and Close It Down, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers & NSW Treasurer Matt Kean. We call on Federal Treasurer the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers and the NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy, the Hon Matt Kean, to refuse the proposed sale of Vales Point Power Station to Czech company Sev.en. Find them all here. Environmental Justice Australia solicitor Jocelyn McGarity said there were serious concerns the licence conditions were unlawful and that the plant should not be allowed to operate beyond 2029.