Victoria’s biggest coal-fired power station to shut in 2028
Victoria’s largest coal-fired power station will close in 2028, four years ahead of schedule, with its operators citing a rapid shift to renewable energy as the key reason.
Yallourn coal-fired power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley will shut down four years early in 2028. Photo: AAP/David Crosling
The plant employs 500 workers and had been licensed to operate until 2032, but operator EnergyAustralia today told staff it was closing early.
The brown coal-burning plant supplies up to 22 per cent of Victoria’s electricity but has found it increasingly difficult to compete with wind and solar generated power coming on-stream, and a rapid drop in wholesale electricity prices.
“Coal-fired power stations have been the backbone of our energy system for decades,” EnergyAustralia executive Liz Westcott said.
“But that is changing. More recently we’ve observed coal is less required as more renewables enter this system … because the system is changing before our eyes and, with every passing day, we take a step forward to this clean future.”
South Australia’s main coal-fired station at Port Augusta was shut down in 2016 and demolished, and the mining town of Leigh Creek which supplied it with coal was decommissioned.
