Liddell

  • Low carbon generation

    NSW’s transition to a new era: What will replace Eraring?

    After 52 years of operation, the NSW Liddell power station officially shut down last 28 April. With Liddell’s closure, NSW’s transition to a green energy future is in full swing. First announced in 2015, NSW had seven years to ensure there is enough replacement capacity once Liddell is retired. Since...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    It’s the Liddell things that matter

    Australia’s oldest coal-fired power plant Liddell retired completely in the last week of April 2023 after 52 years. This giant of AGL, which had a total registered capacity of 2,000 MW, operationally acted as a 1600MW station and 1200MW after the closure of its third unit. Australia’s transition to clean...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Iceman Liddell calls it a career

    Recently in the news, there has been some concern that the closure of the Liddell power station in NSW will be a repeat of what we witnessed in 2017 with the closure of Hazelwood. Hazelwood’s closure led to higher prices, particularly over summer peak demand periods1. This is a poor...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Boulevard of Broken Plants: Can NSW reserves handle non-Green Days?

    It’s been easy to get caught up in all the news from the Victoria and Queensland governments proposing record-setting funding and environmental targets by 2030 and 2035, along with the news of AGL bringing forward the closure of Loy Yang A. This signals that energy transition is now well and...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | To the left, to the left; is Liddell irreplaceable through the day?

    In Issue 52, considering the recent announcement from the federal government to build a 250MW (previously 1GW) gas-fired plant in New South Wales (NSW), we investigated price volatility trends in the state and the opportunities for storage to fill the impending energy gap when Liddell retires in 2023. In this...

  • Power and gas networks

    Australian Chart of the week | Need a little controversy; ‘cause it feels so empty without me?

    Last week, in our chart of the week we wrote about the Federal Government’s announcement surrounding the replacement of Liddell with 1,000 MW of 24/7 dispatchable gas capacity. A week can be a long time as this figure has now fallen to 250MW – much more in line with AEMO’s...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | “Feel the flow”: changing interconnection dynamics post Liddell

    Locational constraints, high renewable penetration zones and fossil fuel failures or retirements are changing the nature of electricity flows in the market. As a result, Interconnection in the National Electricity Market is playing an increasingly important role in balancing supply and demand. On 4 January 2020, bushfires caused transmission outages...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | SA is breaking records… but the ducks are everywhere

    Recently, there has been a lot of commentary on minimum demand levels/ the ‘duck curve’ in South Australia (SA). This due to the state with its minimum demand breaking record three times in a month. In this Chart of the week, via a time-of-day analysis, we analyse other regions of...