Description. Future Sooner, local residents and health professionals are deeply concerned if this sale goes ahead it will extend the life of this filthy, old, polluting coal-fired power station and prolong the damage that is already affecting our health, said Gary Blaschke OAM, resident of Lake Munmorah, cancer sufferer and Future Sooner spokesperson. 4 was brought into use in 1966. 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. Vales Point was commissioned in 1978, and its two turbines generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity, accounting for 11 percent of NSW's energy. A failure to act is no longer an option, Mr Chappel said. Several coal-fired plants in New South Wales have brought their closure dates forward. 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. 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 Electricity and Mr St Bakers Energy Innovation Fund did not respond to calls for comment. The sale reportedly netted Delta $200m despite the company paying only $1m to buy it from the NSW government in 2015, prompting the states opposition to accuse the Coalition of having dudded taxpayers over the sale. St Baker said that financing the projects would not be sought from Australian banks but instead would rely solely on international lenders. 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. 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. This will benefit customers, employees and system security for all energyusers.. 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. The EPA ruling has fuelled concerns that NSW may face an energy supply crunch in the coming years as coal swiftly exits the market. Vales Point Power Plant is owned by Delta Electricity, but in September the company announced that the plant is being sold to Czech family investment group Sev.En Global Investments. The Nature Conservation Council of NSW said that, unlike previous exemptions, this one cannot be extended beyond October 2027. List of coal-fired power stations in Australia - Wikipedia It is also gearing up to invest more in the business as it seeks approval for a license to allow mining to continue until 2029. 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. 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. 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.. the Liddell plant is owned by AGL which has rejected . 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. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park. . Vales Point Power Station sale completed Vales Point Power Station - Wikipedia [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]. 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 The energy and materials can be provided by either renewable power and water, orcoal and gas. In the context of the confluence of the above factors, Delta will not pursue the Vales Point power station efficiency project. We also request confirmation that Vales Point coal-fired power station will close in 2025 and will not receive another exemption licence. These are known as blue hydrogen. Vales Point A power station (replacement) - Global Energy Monitor 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.. The power stations end of technical life is set for 2029. Australia is positioning itself to tap the potential boom in hydrogen fuel, if its adopted globally as a replacement for petroleum. Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates that Vales Point emits 9.32 million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year from burning coal. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. In December last year, Vales Point was issued with an order to limit its emissions of nitrogen oxide. 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. AGL Energy has also brought forward the closure of its 2220 MW Loy Yang A plant in Victoria to 2035. Cooking with gas: How bad for your health is it, really? 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. In 2022, an air pollution exemption granted to Vales Point power station by the NSW EPA was successfully challenged by environment and legal groups, who argued that community health impacts of toxic air emissions - including childhood asthma and premature deaths were - being ignored, pointing out that Vales Point routinely breach NSW air protection laws. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. The NSW EPA noted that environment department modelling found that ground-level concentration of NOx in the community meets national health standards. Michael Mazengarb is a Sydney-based reporter with RenewEconomy,writing on climate change, clean energy, electric vehicles and politics. Goldman Sachs said Vales Point, backed by energy mogul Trevor St Baker, was facing closure potential. 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. The Vales Point coal power station was sold by the NSW government in 2015 for just $1 million. NSW has committed to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions, and the Hunter region is zoned for renewable energy development to help reach the goal. The turbines were removed in 1997; the boilers and buildings were demolished between 201114. The expectation has been that the power station would close in 2029 and the clean-up could begin., Vales Point on southern Lake Macquarie stayed in government hands until 2015, when the Coalition state government controversially sold it to energy entrepreneurs Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery for $1 million., 167 Parry Street,Hamilton East, NSW, 2303, AboutCampaigningResearch & ReportsSubmissionsVolunteerHCEC NewsMedia ReleasesEventsContact UsCommittee Records, Barrington - Hawkesbury Climate Corridors Alliance, Water pollution Datawatch: NSW power stations. Hydrogen is a rare element which means it needs to be manufactured. Vales Point provides 11% of NSW electricity. Coal plants list deadlines when their operating life is set to cease, but Dr Mountain said Victoria has secured a valuable guarantee that Yallourn will be available to produce until 2028, and if the company brings forward closure the state will receive compensation. 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. Stop the Sale of Vales Point Power Station and Close It Down, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers & NSW Treasurer Matt Kean. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park. Delta Flagged Early Closure of Vales Point Coal Plant When I The EPA has the chance to take a good look at this before issuing the new owners with a licence to pollute, she said. 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. 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. The script is starkly similar when it comes to water pollution from Vales Point, with offsite water contamination from the south-east portion of the ash dump identified in the Environment Protection Licence this year. 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. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. At a budget estimates hearing last month, Stephen Beaman, a senior regulator at the EPA, said the agency would be finalising its position very shortly on the legality of the exemption. It produces about four per cent of the electricity supplied to consumers in the National Electricity Market. Health at GoPetition. Delta Electricity, which is jointly owned by Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery, announced early in 2019 that it was seeking support for the proposal from the Australian Government's Underwriting New Generation Investments program. (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. Strict new operating limits for Vales Point Power Station from 1 January The generation table uses eljmkt nemlog to obtain generation values for each year. 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. Delta Electricity turns down $8.7 million grant for Vales Point We will continue to invest in the station both for ongoing energy needs and for system security, said the spokesperson. Eraring and Vales Point coal-fired power stations in the Hunter could Phone: 02 4352 6111 Vales point already has an exemption licence to pollute over and above NSW emission controls. Eraring closure has no impact on future of Vales Point Two investors have bought one of NSW's largest coal-fired power stations for the price of a nice suburban house. [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. 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. Unit no. NSW plant closures include the Vales Point power station, scheduled to shut in 2029-30. The WHO annual guideline for NOx of 10 ug/m3 (4.87 ppb) is regularly breached at monitoring sites close to the Vales Point power station. Vales Point Power Station Submission Guide - Nature Conservation It also followed a dramatic increase in fine particle pollutionconfirmed by Vales Points own data in 2017. Key points: Energy Australia will build a 350 megawatt, utility-scale battery in the Latrobe Valley by the end of 2026 The giant coal-fired Yallourn plant has been operating for 47 years Two years on from the sale, the facility was valued at $722M. 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. The first two units were completed in 1963, and the third in 1964. At Delta, which supplies about 11 per cent of NSWs power, RBC is thought to have run a process to sell either 50 per cent or 100 per cent, with Mr St Baker originally keeping open an option to retain his stake. Vales Point coal-fired power station in NSW could be polluting in Custom Content. It has been announced that the ageing Vales Point coal-fired power station on the Central Coast, NSW is to be sold by the Australian Delta Energy to the Czech fossil fuel investment company Sev.en, owned by billionaire Pavel Tyka. Victoria's potential crunch comes with the 2028-29 closure of the Yallourn power plant in the. Environment Justice Australia and the Nature Conservation Council have questioned whether the renewal of a licence granting the plant operators exemptions from some pollution standards for nitrogen oxide is valid because, they say, Delta applied for the renewal after the deadline. Vales Point uses salt water from Lake Macquarie for cooling. 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. 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. 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. 49 Vales Point Power Station Premium High Res Photos The Morrison governments low emissions investment road map is technology neutral which meanspublic funding is availableto green and blue hydrogen. The proposed plant would adjoin the existing 1320 MW Vales Point power station owned by Delta Electricity. 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. We will not spam you or sell your details. Vales Point was commissioned in 1978, and its two turbines generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity, accounting for 11 percent of NSWs energy. 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.