Origin’s announcement that it will close its Eraring power station in 2025 is a sign of the unstoppable momentum of change to cleaner and cheaper energy, according to the Nature Conservation Council.
“Origin’s announcement is a ray of hope for leaving a safe climate for our children," said Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian.
Singlehandedly, this announcement will avoid up to 87 million tonnes of climate pollution. That is more than the annual emissions of 167 countries, including Austria, New Zealand, and Greece.
"Origin's announcement means that over the next three and a half years, NSW’s clean energy industry will boom to ensure there is sufficient clean energy generation to continue bringing down power bills.”
“There is over $100bn of investment interest in clean wind, solar and batteries in the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone alone.”
“We need the NSW and Federal governments to step up and get the batteries, solar and wind farms, and transmission lines up and running by 2025 to ensure a seamless transition.”
“NCC welcome’s Origin’s commitments to provide tailored transition support to its workers, and to invest in new battery and pumped-hydro plants in NSW to provide clean energy on demand.
Background information:
Eraring Power Station, situated on the shores of NSW’s Lake Macquarie is the largest coal-fired power station in Australia.
Over the last five years, the Eraring power station emitted 69 million tonnes of CO2, making it the second largest climate polluting facility in NSW, narrowly behind AGL’s Bayswater power station which emitted 72 million tonnes of CO2 over the same period. It averaged 13.9 million tonnes per year over the same period, approximately 2.8% of Australia’s entire domestic emissions.
Table: Climate pollution from NSW coal-fired power stations
Source: Greenhouse and energy information by designated generation facility, Clean Energy Regulator
Sources:
Coal power station emissions: Clean Energy Regulator, Greenhouse and energy information by designated generation facility
Australia annual emissions: 499 mt, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory