Whoever owns these assets, I want to make sure they are acting in the interests of the citizens of this state, not for vested interests, he said. 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. Delta chief executive Greg Everett said the proposed deal, which has yet to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, was a positive development for Delta and its stakeholders. Leading Edge Energy is an energy brokerage firm in Australia that specialises in energy cost reduction, solar and storage procurement, electricity and natural gas-use monitoring and reporting for commercial and industrial clients. Contents 1 Location 2 Background on Plant 3 Carbon capture project 4 Environmental Impact 4.1 Air pollution 4.2 Coal ash dam 5 Future shutdown date 6 Interest in buying Liddell coal plant In December 2017, Origin Energy announced that it would close the . Coal plant closures loom large as NSW backs hydrogen for the Hunter. Newcastle GP andpublic health academic Dr Ben Ewaldsaiddata from existing Hunter and Central Coast power stations provided more evidence of the need to replace old coal-fired power stations with renewable energy. He floated the proposal only two weeks after the NSW Environment Protection Authority ordered Vales Point owner Delta Electricity to clean up a huge part of the power stations ash dam after dumped asbestos was found in building waste fill. The value of the NSW coal power plant was cut to $156 million, down from $732 million in 2017 when power prices skyrocketed after the closure of the Hazelwood power station, documents. While Delta secretary Steve Gurney said the sale of Vales Point was a completely unrelated commercial matter to the emissions issue, Nature Conservation Council chief executive, Jacqui Mumford, said the new owners should be required to slash the stations pollution so that people across NSW can breathe healthier air. Read our Privacy Policy. and Evie Networks, among other energy interests. Mr St Bakers announcement came as the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) released a report on Monday showing Chinese finance is increasingly stepping in as the lender of last resort for coal plants, as other banks take active measures to restrict their funding. Vales Point coal-fired power station in NSW could be polluting in 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. But it also represents a significant expansion of Sev.en in Australias coal power sector beyond its interest in Queenslands InterGen, with the suggestion that further investments in the domestic energy sector may be on the cards. Coal is carbon. 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. Hydrogen is a rare element which means it needs to be manufactured. On Tuesday the NSW energy minister, Matt Kean, declined to weigh in on whether the sale was appropriate, but said the government would remain vigilant over the plant operations. Stop the Sale of Vales Point Power Station and Close It Down NSW power station given shorter deadline on emissions Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. NSW EPA Chief Tony Chappel said the exemption, coupled with the requirement to cut emissions strikes the right balance between safeguarding environmental health and supporting NSWs need for reliable and affordable energy. Feb 18, 2022 - 5.07pm. In a statement Mr St Baker highlighted the buyers commitment to growing the business. Publicly owned until 2015 when sold to Sunset International Power for $1 million, the deal capped the new owners site rehabilitation costs to just $10M. 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. We care about the protection of your data. NSW taxpayers might have to pay some remediation costs associated with the closure of Origin Energy's Eraring coal-fired power station when it shuts down in 2025. (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. It has previously been reported that the EPA briefed the states environment minister, James Griffin, over concerns about the exemption, as well as seeking approval to pay a senior barrister for advice on the legality of the exemption. September 2022 Delta Electricity agreed to sell to Czech company, Sev.en Global Investments. Vales Point Power Plant given two years to cut emissions The power stationed operated from 11 March 1927 until March 1976. St Baker said that financing the projects would not be sought from Australian banks but instead would rely solely on international lenders. NSW plant closures include the Vales Point power station, scheduled to shut in 2029-30. For fossil fuel production to be clean carbon capture has to be tacked on to capture the emissions. In the context of the confluence of the above factors, Delta will not pursue the Vales Point power station efficiency project. A Morrison government plan to fund upgrades at the Vales Point coal fired power station fell through after the government offered insufficient funding for the upgrades to take place, with owners Delta Electricity warning the plant could close early, documents obtained under FOI show. Description. To learn more about how we use information collected with cookies, please read our Privacy Policy. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning. The study also criticized the absence of air pollution monitoring within 25 km of Eraring and the nearby Vales Point power station. Vales Point uses salt water from Lake Macquarie for cooling. Strict new operating limits for Vales Point Power Station from 1 January. It is the second instance of the Morrison government failing to secure investment in new coal-fired generation infrastructure by offering insufficient funding support, following earlier revelations that the government had not provided sufficient grant funding to ensure proponents of a coal-fired power station in Queensland could complete a bankable feasibility study. In December last year, Vales Point was issued with an order to limit its emissions of nitrogen oxide. Australia's fleet of coal-fired power stations are aging and many are due for decommissioning, and are being replaced by a combination of mostly renewable energy. . 49 Vales Point Power Station Premium High Res Photos 4 was brought into use in 1966. Email: info@de.com.au, {"type":"HYBRID","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":16,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":-33.161011600000002,"lon":151.5452521,"icon":""}]}. Find them all here. As previously revealed by RenewEconomy, Delta told the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources in December that it would not proceed with a formal application for $8.7 million in grant funding that had been set aside in the 2020 federal budget. The Vales Point coal-fired power station near the shores of Lake Macquarie, in NSW.James Whelan Goldman Sachs said Vales Point, backed by energy mogul Trevor St Baker, was facing "closure potential". Invoice Validation & Network Tariff Analysis. The largest coal plant in the state AGLs 2880 MW Eraring Power Station, will be closed in 2025. 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. Energy analysts said the renewables-led collapse in average prices across the nations electricity grid was so severe that the 1480-megawatt facility supplying up to 22 per cent of the states power could close even sooner than expected. It has two steam turbines, with a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW (1,770,000 hp) of electricity. Transitioning the Hunter and Central Coast from a fossil fuels manufacturing base to one of renewable generation is underway. 1 to 3) and one of 275 MW supplied by Associated Electrical Industries (unit no. The EPA granted Delta an exemption to the licence, however, the exemption went hand in hand with an order to reduce daily levels. 4), for a total of 875 MW. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. [9][10][11], Vales Point Power Station was used as the location for the Midnight Oil US Forces music video.[12][13]. If Vales Point power station is allowed to operate beyond 2029, we know it will have continued serious consequences for the health of the community. Vales Point sale HCEC Every time an old coal-fired power stations closes to be replaced by renewable energy, theres an immediate health benefit to communities within 100 kilometres of the facility, Dr Ewald said. Delta flagged early closure of Vales Point coal plant when it rejected federal grant | RenewEconomy 1 year ago Kim Grierson 1 year ago 1 year ago Apparently NSW retained the decommissioning liabilities Andy Saunders 1 year ago Prices that make it profitable? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In 2021, the Vales Point Power Station emitted more toxic nitrogen oxide pollutants than allowable under the NSW Protection of the Environment Operations (Clean Air) Regulation 2021. It just staggers me that Australia is so far behind the rest of the world which is switching to renewables while were still talking about projects like this, Ms Wynn said. The power station's end of technical life is set for 2029. Eraring is now scheduled for closure in 2025 and will leave Vales Point as the last electricity-generating station standing on Lake Macquarie, however, Vales Point is also scheduled for nominal closure in 2029. A licence granted last year exempts the operators of the Vales Point plant, recently sold to Sev.en Global Investments, from nitrogen oxide pollution standards. In a letter obtained by RenewEconomy, Delta told the department that the funding was below the amount of funding the company had requested and left the company carrying too much of the cost. The map below shows the location of the plant, near Mannering Park, New South Wales. It produces about four per cent of the electricity supplied to consumers in the National Electricity Market. Correspondence obtained by RenewEconomy through a freedom of information request shows that Delta Electricity cited ongoing policy uncertainty, questions about the long-term future of the plant and an inadequate funding offer from the Morrison government as reasons for cancelling proposed upgrades to Vales Point. offsite water contamination from the south-east portion of the ash dump identified in the Environment Protection Licence this year. The operator applied for an exemption granted in December 2021 with a reduction variation and additional conditions imposed by the NSW Environment Protection Agency. On Tuesday Kean said he was still expecting the plant to close by 2029, saying the state had plans in place to ensure that the capacity of Vales Point is replaced by that time. The Vales Point coal-fired power station near the shores of Lake Macquarie, in NSW. Eraring and Vales Point coal-fired power stations in the Hunter could In 2010, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Delta Electricity's now mothballed Munmorah power station was set for expansion, after receiving US$28 million in funding. The announcement today by Original doesnt change Vales Points position, said the spokesperson. If the sale goes through, it will continue to pollute long past its slated 2029 closure date. We make strategic investments with long-term commitment.. EnergyAustralia announced on Wednesday its Yallourn coal plant would close in 2028, four years ahead of the previous deadline. Early closure of Australia's largest coal-fired plant could create For more detailed local information see the Lake Macquarie Hunter Recreational Fishing Guide Back to top air pollution exemption granted to Vales Point power station by the NSW EPA was successfully challenged by environment and legal groups. Eraring power station closure: NSW taxpayers could foot part of the 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. Delta Coal which supplies Vales Point have an active proposal to continue mining largely exploited seams under the lake and ash dump until 2029 and community fears over worsening pollution impacts from this aging facility under this potential new ownership have been made public. 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.. 15 December 2021. Im more interested now in what we are doing in electrifying the transport sector, absolutely critical steps forward in the rollout of charging infrastructure, he told The Australian Financial Review. Recent state government announcements in Queensland and Victoria look to cut coal generation out of the energy mix as soon as possible. With this acquisition we will significantly strengthen our presence in Australia, said Sev.en chief executive Alan Svoboda. In its home market, it runs two coal power generators and two combined heat and power plants. Sep 18, 2022 - 3.16pm Energy entrepreneur Trevor St Baker and coal investor Brian Flannery will sell their Vales Point coal-fired power station in NSW for several hundred million dollars to. the Liddell plant is owned by AGL which has rejected a proposal to sell the site as they have their own plans to redevelop the site. Solar feed-in tariffs cut again, despite much higher wholesale grid prices, How to double your old homes energy rating: Lessons from two efficiency retrofits, All-electric Polestar doubles sales, boosts margins as it prepares more EV models, EV battery recycler hits 95% recovery rate in world-first collection program, Electric vehicles grab record 6.8 pct share of Australia market as Tesla rules again. DPE is currently assessing an application by Delta to consolidate and expand its Chain Valley and Mannering collieries. The owners of the Hazelwood coal plant in the Latrobe valley only provided five months notice ahead of its closure in 2017, which delivered a big blow to the workforce and Victorias power prices. Vales Point A (replacement) power station is a proposal by Delta Electricity to build a new 660 MW plant on the site of the demolished Vales Point A plant in New South Wales, Australia. Sydney, NSW 2000 [5] The balloon loop opened in March 1980. 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. [1], In March 2019 Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Delta Electricity's proposal had been shortlisted but provided no details.[2]. The big energy companies are also feeling the pressure from the Morrison government over the proposed closure dates for older coal-fired power stations. 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.. However, a 2015 report from the state government's Coal Innovation Fund says the CCS . Several coal-fired plants in New South Wales have brought their closure dates forward. POWER magnate Trevor St Baker is expected to lodge a proposalwith the Federal Government today for a new Hunter or Central Coast coal-fired power station with a Chinese joint venture partner. who bought Vales Point power station from the NSW Government for a song in 2015, The power station offloaded by the NSW Government for $1 million suddenly has a future, clean up a huge part of the power stations ash dam, a dramatic increase in fine particle pollution, Department of Planning gives green light for Vales Point solar energy project, NSW Ports labels Newcastle container terminal 'white elephant' in parliamentary inquiry submission, Former professional surfer Jake Sylvester rescues swimmer at Merewether Beach, Wollombi Music Festival bans Wicked camper vans, National Farmers Federation and Agriculture Minister slam Aussie Farms interactive map of Australian properties, Train replica gives Newcastle something to choo on, Jets captain questions referee calls in controversial loss to Wellington, Police seek help to find 59-year-old missing from West Wallsend, Four assaulted in armed home invasion by five men wearing balaclavas, Toohey's News: Twin Towers key to Knights' rebuild, Terms and Conditions - Digital Subscription, Terms and Conditions - Newspaper Subscription. 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. The Vales Point coal power station was sold by the NSW government in 2015 for just $1 million. Vales Point was commissioned in 1978, and its two turbines generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity, accounting for 11 percent of NSW's energy. Proponents of renewable energy and some business leaders haveraised concerns that financial supportfor hydrogen production powered by fossil fuels could artificially prolong the operation of the nations ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations, or create demand for gas which would be better directed to wind and solar projects. Wholesale power prices are meanwhile several times higher than the $40-$45 megawatt-hour range that prevailed when he and billionaire partner Mr Flannery bought the generator. Yalloun Power Station closure to put Newcastle's Vales Point in In order to supply coal to the station, three mines were opened; Chain Valley Colliery, Newvale No.1 Colliery and Wyee State Mine. As of 2021, the Vales Point Power Station emits more toxic nitrogen oxide pollutants than allowable under the NSW Protection of the Environment Operations (Clean Air) Regulation 2021 in order to continue to legally operate (or otherwise cease operating), the operator applied for an exemption under its licence 761,[8] which was granted on 15 December 2021 with a reduction variation and additional conditions imposed by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority. The first two units were completed in 1963, and the third in 1964. Vales Point A power station (replacement) - Global Energy Monitor 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. [1], In 2017 it was valued at $732 million, and was estimated to make part-owner energy entrepreneur and former National Party candidate Trevor St Baker a half billionaire. 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. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. To learn more, read our Privacy Policy. The energy and materials can be provided by either renewable power and water, orcoal and gas. Custom Content. 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.. Eraring closure has no impact on future of Vales Point Plunging energy prices sink Vales Point power station [3], In September 2022 Sunset Power owners announced the sale of Vales Point Power Station to a Czech family investment group Sev.En Global Investments.[4]. AGL Energy has also brought forward the closure of its 2220 MW Loy Yang A plant in Victoria to 2035. That, environment groups say, has given new urgency for the NSW Environment Protection Authority to clarify the legality of a pollution exemption provided to the plant late last year. Munmorah power station - Global Energy Monitor The turbines were removed in 1997; the boilers and buildings were demolished between 201114. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Heralds newsletter here, The Ages here, Brisbane Times here, and WAtodays here. Analysts identified particular economic risk for Vales Point coal power near Newcastle, the same region where NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean will today announce a $70 million fund to grow a green hydrogen industry, which he said would bring jobs and growth to the region. When queried, the department told RenewEconomy that the funding set aside in the budget was considered to represent value for money. Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates, sold the 1,320-megawatt Vales Point power station, likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, seeking approval to pay a senior barrister. Under . Delta flagged early closure of Vales Point coal plant when it rejected 287 Elizabeth Street Energy Australia to close Yallourn power station early and build 350 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. In January 2019 St Baker told The Australian that he would submit a proposal to Australia's Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor, for government support from the Underwriting New Generation Investments program for three projects including a new A$2 billion 660 MW black coal plant in NSW's Hunter Valley at the Vales Point A power station site or at AGL's Liddell power station.The report claimed "St Baker has lined up a Chinese joint-venture partner" but did not name the company. The Vales Point coal-fired power station is expected to close in 2029 and there's concern the upgrade will extend this date even thought it's limited by state approvals, wiping out any emissions reduction benefits from the works. Unit no. Vales Point Power Station - Wikipedia On the international front the Morrison government has committed $70 million to help develop a regional hydrogen export hub, and Australia has signed agreements with Japan, Korea, Germany and Singapore to investigate hydrogen supply chains.