Media release: The Case for Closing Eraring in 2027

Eraring is unreliable – extending its life beyond 2027 is a ‘lose lose’.

Australia’s largest power station, Eraring, experienced approximately 6000 hours of outages across its 4 units in 2024, according to new analysis from Nexa Advisory. That’s the equivalent to each unit on average being down for two months, due to planned maintenance and/ or unplanned outages.

According to the report, unplanned outages, which usually become more common as power stations age, “don’t just cause power unreliability and risk blackouts on hot days…. [but] cause higher energy market volatility which results in higher contract prices. These higher wholesale costs ultimately flow to the prices paid by consumers.”

Besides the cost impact, an energy system that continues to rely on ageing coal fired power stations could increase the likelihood of blackouts. In the final quarter of 2024 alone, there were 144 “Lack of Reserve alerts” issued by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), a record, 92 of which were for NSW. This highlights the concerning threat to consumer bills due to the market volatility in wholesale electricity prices seen during these events.

The report concludes that the “ageing 43-year-old generator is unreliable and incompatible with today’s dynamic electricity system” and that the New South Wales government take steps to open up the enormous pipeline of large scale solar, wind and batteries in New South Wales.

In NSW alone, there are 44 gigawatts of large-scale solar and wind projects proposed, alongside 16GW of large-scale batteries.

How much longer can coal power last? And what does this mean for Federal energy policy?

The longevity and reliability of coal-fired power stations will be a key issue in the lead up to the Federal Election. The Coalition’s energy policy relies on coal fired power stations operating until seven proposed nuclear power stations can be constructed and begin to operate. Analysis like this report call into question the viability of such a plan.

These concerns are shared by some of Australia’s leaders in the energy industry. Damien Nicks, Chief Executive at AGL, recently expressed scepticism about the viability of relying on coal for another ten years.

Many recent nuclear power projects have run significantly over time and budget.

Read the full media release here: Nexa Advisory Media Release – The case for closing Eraring in 2027 Report