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Abbott to Turnbull: Step in and save Hazelwood power plant

Friday, 24 Mar 2017 05:04:24

Hazelwood is set to close next week with the loss of about 750 jobs. (AAP: Julian Smith)

Former prime minister Tony Abbott and a coalition of businesses is pressuring Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to intervene to stop the closure of Victoria's Hazelwood power station to prevent a possible electricity crisis.

Mr Abbott described the closure — scheduled for next week — as "the last thing we should be doing", saying the move could hurt manufacturing, and the Government should keep the privately-owned plant operating at least until the Snowy Hydro expansion is complete.

The Federal Government last week announced a $2 billion expansion of the hydro scheme, dubbed "Snowy Mountains Scheme 2.0", in a bid to power up to 500,000 homes.

"If we are serious about tackling Australia's looming energy crisis, the last thing we should be doing is closing 20 per cent of Victoria's (and five per cent of Australia's) baseload power supply," Mr Abbott said in an opinion piece in News Limited papers.

"If we want secure and affordable power supplies, we can't lose the ones we have, even if they involve burning coal."

External Link: RN Breakfast tweet: .@TonyAbbottMHR wants the Government to keep Hazelwood open. @frankelly08 asks why. #auspol

He said keeping Hazelwood open would "cap off a good week for the Prime Minister" after he "fought for free speech, announced a new crackdown on union corruption, and released an 'Australia First' citizenship statement".

"Stopping next summer's looming blackouts with bold action now is a chance to keep the momentum going."

The idea has the backing of the country's peak industry body, the Australian Industry Group (AIG).

AIG chief executive Innes Willox said business leaders feared there could be a power crisis next summer.

"They have deep concern, really deep and serious concern, that once Hazelwood closes we will have a massive gap in the market because there hasn't been a proper sequencing of taking Hazelwood offline and replacing it," he told RN Breakfast.

Operators, Labor say saving plant too costly

However, the CEO of Hazelwood's parent company Engie, Alex Keisser, said he did not think keeping Hazelwood was a realistic option.

Mr Keisser said neither the state nor federal government had been involved in any conversations with the company about a last-minute intervention.

"I believe it would be very late," Mr Keisser told RN Breakfast.

"They would need first a lot of money, and second we should not forget that we would need to act very quickly, because we need $150 million just to do the work by July needed to keep the plant safe.

"We're not at all making money out of the plant."

Victoria's Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said it would cost about $400 million for the upgrades required to keep the plant operating.

She described Mr Abbott's intervention as "giving false hope to a community already under duress".

"The plant cannot survive and for Tony Abbott to come out at the last minute with his simplistic analysis and propositions really is self-serving and that's really all you can say about Tony Abbott's contribution to this whole debate," she said.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has responded by reiterating previous advice that the closure of Hazelwood would not compromise Victoria's electricity system, or the broader national electricity market.

"There are power generation resources available in Victoria and the NEM (National Electricity Market) that are currently not operating at all or to their full capacity that can be made available to replace the power currently supplied by Hazelwood," AEMO said in a statement.

"AEMO's market analysis reveals these resources exceed the 1600 megawatts capacity of Hazelwood."

AustraliaPlus


 

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