EnergyAustralia has today reaffirmed its commitment to the clean energy transition with an updated Climate Change Statement. The declaration now features specific emission-reduction targets and a commitment to develop a plan to transition out of coal.
Mark Collette, EnergyAustralia Managing Director, said: “The clean energy transformation is accelerating, with more renewable, storage and flexible energy technology available at lower costs than ever before. Our Climate Change Statement shares our pathway to net zero.”
“Our approach continues to be one of long-term planning, where we consult with governments and communities as we design and deliver our transition – while ensuring our 2.4 million customers maintain access to reliable and affordable energy,” Mark said.
One of the pivotal changes to EnergyAustralia’s climate statement is a commitment to develop a plan for how we transition out of coal. This means an earlier retirement date for Mt Piper power station in New South Wales.
“The energy transition has significant impacts for our power station workers and our local communities. While Mt Piper’s ultimate retirement date will be determined by several factors, we are committed to long term planning and supporting the transition for our workers and our local communities.
“For our customers we need to ensure that we can maintain reliable, affordable and low emissions energy as the system transitions. This is a real-world challenge that we must meet by employing a range of technologies.
“We have, and will continue to make, significant investments as part of our commitment towards reaching net zero emissions. This includes projects such as our carbon neutral gas and hydrogen power plant in New South Wales, Tallawarra B, and the Wooreen battery at Jeeralang in Victoria,” said Mark.
EnergyAustralia’s updated Climate Change Statement is Mark Collette’s first major commitment as Managing Director since his appointment on 1 July 2021.
The announcement is coordinated with the broader CLP Group commitment to an updated Climate Vision 2050 for its regional portfolio, which sets more ambitious decarbonisation targets on the path to becoming net zero by 2050.
Chief Operating Officer, Liz Westcott, has confirmed EnergyAustralia’s commitment to its workforce and the community of the region. The transition process will be transparent with workers and the community as the company moves towards a sustainable future both environmentally and commercially.
“The way we are handling the transition of the Yallourn transition is to ensure we are giving the workforce and the community packages of commitment that they want, that are relevant to them and their needs, we would be using the same process with Mt Piper” said Ms Westcott.
Energy Australia announced in June the proposal for a pumped hydro facility at Lake Lyell and are developing the pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) project at the Mt Piper power plant site near Lithgow in New South Wales. This is a great example of reusing existing transmission assets and providing opportunities in the energy transition for existing communities.
currently going through design and feasibility processing.
The Lithgow region is uniquely positioned to play a role in this transitioning energy market with its connection to the largest energy consuming market in Australia. Ensuring that innovation, development of knowledge and skills are part of this transition pathway will help Lithgow’s economy remain relevant in coming decades.
You can read EnergyAustralia’s updated Climate Change Statement at: www.energyaustralia.com.au/climate-change-statement
