10 March 2021
EnergyAustralia will close the Yallourn Power station four years earlier than planned, announcing an accelerated closure date of mid-2028 as coal generators face the impacts of falling electricity prices and the rising costs of maintaining ageing infrastructure.
EnergyAustralia had previously indicated that the power station would close in 2032, when the power station is expected to exhaust its supplies of coal from the Yallourn mine, but analysts have said the rapidly changing market and the ageing generator’s inability to handle flexible output would likely mean an early closure.
EnergyAustralia announced that as part of the closure plans, a new big battery facility would be built at Jeeralang in the Latrobe Valley, with 350MW of capacity and up to four hours of storage.