AGL closes Australia’s highest-polluting coal station early — but too late for some

Australian energy giant AGL has announced the fast-tracked closure of its biggest — and Australia’s highest polluting — coal-fired power station by a decade.

Loy Yang A (not to be confused with Alinta’s Loy Yang B) was originally scheduled for closure in 2048. In February, that was revised to a more “ambitious” 2040-2045. Today, AGL told investors that all operations will wind down by 2035. It forms part of the company’s new and improved strategy to transition out of fossil fuels and into renewable energy.

Latrobe Valley coal power worker Tony Wolfe told Crikey that the decision comes as a shock to no one: “The writing’s been on the wall for some time. No one believed the previous dates. I think it’s a bit ambitious of them to think they’ll still be operating in 2035.”

The 13-year timeline falls short of Paris climate targets and shareholders’ repeated requests to finish up with fossil fuels fast. “They gave a clear message they wanted AGL to get out of coal sooner,” Wolfe said. “Personally, I think shareholders will be disappointed.”

In a statement lodged with the stock exchange, AGL said it had “accelerated exit from all coal-fired generation”.

Major AGL shareholder Mike Cannon-Brookes has been clear about the need for a complete company shake-up. He blocked a demerger, bid twice to buy the company outright, and yesterday nominated four new names to join the five-member AGL board.

But Wolfe says these decisions are “done in the dark” and include little consultation with the community and coal workforce. “There was no engagement with the people who work here. We’ve been left out to dry,” Wolfe said. “We usually hear about these things through the media.”

AGL’s decision to limit the lifespan of Loy Yang A could bring forward the closure of neighbouring operator Alinta’s Loy Yang B as they both share the same open-cut coal mine owned by AGL. So either Alinta shuts up shop earlier than its 2048 target or it takes over the mine.

Wolfe has worked in coal for more than 40 years and is under no illusions that the industry’s days are numbered. He’s part of a large cohort of coal workers who’ll retire before the industry is overrun by renewables, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a vocal advocate for hastening that transition.

“There is a lot of doom and gloom, but hopefully that’s short-lived. The fact that we have to rehabilitate all these sites, there’s decades of work in that alone,” he said. “We need to identify the skills we need for new infrastructure and start training our workforce for that.”