The Zombie coal plant lives again

Eraring coal plant is Australia's largest coal power station. Obviously it's a polluting monstrosity that kills koalas and is more expensive than solar panels. It's also old and yet, for some reason, when it was supposed to shut down in August last year, the government dished out nearly half a billion dollars to keep it running for another two years until 2027.

Now, in a second round of baffling electrical fever, the NSW government has twisted the arm of Origin Energy to make sure they don't shut the coal plant until 2029. All four coal units will be kept running.

Eraring supplies nearly a quarter of the electricity used in our largest industrial state, but apparently the wonderland new renewables grid isn't quite ready, even though it's 2026 and we are supposed to be aiming for 82% unreliable energy by 2030. But cruelly, the renewables revolution hit a wall and the Snowy Hydro Scheme hit an unmodeled rock. Only three new wind farms have been built in Australia last year, and everyone hates the interconnector transmission lines.

If the renewables grid was utterly failing, and the targets were all going to be missed, this is exactly what the early stages of a big backflip would look like. They can just keep extending the coal plants.

Ministers say Eraring will be used less and less and exists only as "insurance". Which is like buying a truck to sit on the lawn, just in case your bike, roller skates and e-scooter can't get you to work.

Origin Energy's Eraring coal power station gets 2-year extension

By Colin Packham, The Australian

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the extension will help keep power bills down. "My number one job is keeping the lights on and putting downward pressure on power prices. NSW is making real progress replacing ageing coal-fired power stations. Since the election, we have increased the amount of renewable energy capacity in operation by almost 70 per cent. That's equivalent to Eraring's capacity," said Ms Sharpe.

The longer lifespan would not impact Origin's own emissions reduction targets and taxpayers will not at this stage be called upon to provide any financial support, underscoring the profitability of the coal power station near Lake Macquarie.

Shares in Origin rose 2.6 per cent to $11.34 as the market cheered the prospect of additional returns from Eraring.

Green groups are calling this a disaster. They believe that renewables are cheaper than coal, yet say that keeping an old coal plant going will "crowd out" cheaper investments —  though they don't explain why people will choose the coal….

The CEO of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Jacqui Mumford, said "far from supporting the transition, Origin's decision will crowd out investment in the clean, modern sources of generation we need to be switching to".

Meanwhile The Blob speaks its own language — this decision has obviously increased real "certainty", but the Blob says it has been undermined.

Johanna Bowyer of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said extending Eraring "undermines certainty right when investors in new replacement generation need clarity"