Origin has notified the NSW Government, the Australian Stock Exchange and the Australian Energy Market Operator that it will operate Eraring Power Station until April 2029.
This extension is a warning sign that renewables and storage haven’t been built fast enough – delaying the switch has very real implications for people’s electricity bills.
The 43-year-old Eraring Power Station had more than 6,000 hours (250 days) of planned and unplanned outages in 2024, which were a key driver of major power price spikes.
Renewables are already saving NSW households money. Every delay costs NSW households more, and NSW families pay the price. Any delay in the renewables rollout means higher bills. The cheapest power for NSW comes from renewable energy backed by storage; not stretching old coal power stations past their use-by date.
Finance and energy expert spokespeople available below are calling on all state and federal governments to ensure that this is the last coal clunker to keep polluting beyond its agreed lifespan. They’re urging governments to boost large and small renewables, transmission lines, and energy storage, and support coal workers, to make sure other power stations like Gladstone in Queensland and Yallourn in Victoria close on time.
The fastest way to lower power bills is to get on with building renewable energy and storage as quickly as possible.
To arrange interviews with Stephanie Bashir, Tim Buckley or Johanna Bowyer, please contact:
Gabrielle Platt on 0493 442 307 on [email protected]
To arrange interviews with Climate Council Councillors Greg Bourne or Joel Gilmore, please contact:
Warwick Green on 0439 647 144 or [email protected]
Climate Councillor and energy sector expert, Associate Professor Joel Gilmore, said:
“This is why we need to accelerate the roll out of renewable energy so that we don’t keep dipping back into the destructive well of fossil fuels.
“Every year we extend a coal plant we increase the risks of relying on an ageing and unreliable facility. The evidence is clear that once these plants get beyond 40 years of age they increasingly start to fail, and that is an expensive risk and a dangerous one, particularly at this time of year when they are more prone to outages just when people most need to know they can rely on power.
“Eraring is the next coal plant of many that is reaching the end of its life in New South Wales and we can’t keep extending these banged-up old jalopies at huge financial and environmental cost to each and every one of us.”
Climate Council energy expert Greg Bourne, said:
“Renewable energy is our cheapest form of energy and our best option for tackling the climate crisis, and it’s critical that we transition away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
“This requires a speedy transition to renewable energy, but that must happen as smoothly as possible for households and businesses. Reducing Eraring’s capacity over the next three years means that by 2029 we can have renewables energy and storage roaring at full capacity so that we can close this old coal clunker forever.
“For our climate it’s really important that we use Eraring as little as possible over the rest of its short lifetime – it can be useful as a back-up, but renewable energy is the cheapest and best way to mitigate destructive climate pollution and the unpredictable and extreme weather caused by those changes.’’
Stephanie Bashir, CEO of Nexa Advisory, said:
“Eraring is effectively shutting itself down. While an extension to 2029 may not be surprising, it is disappointing. This situation is the direct result of a failure of the NSW Government to move with urgency to approve and deliver replacement renewable generation, transmission and storage at the pace required.
“The NSW Government’s claim that taxpayers haven’t paid a dollar is disingenuous. Consumers are paying through the nose as high wholesale prices are locked in by delays to new renewable supply and the growing unreliability of coal plants that should already be on the way out.
“Every delay in getting renewables and storage online is another excuse to keep ageing coal plants running longer than planned – and every extension comes with a price tag for consumers.
“If the NSW Government is serious about lowering power bills and keeping the light on, it must fast-track replacement renewables, fix the blocks on transmission build and stop normalising coal extensions as the default option.”
Tim Buckley, Founder and Director of Climate Energy Finance, said:
“It is disappointing to hear Origin Energy plans to continue the Eraring coal-power plant life till April 2029. This reflects a total failure of planning by Origin to protect its customers. Origin Energy has failed to build any replacement generation capacity despite knowing for decades Eraring is due for closure.
“But the reality is that the permanent sustainable solution is to build distributed and utility scale renewable energy firmed by batteries at speed and scale, ignoring the small but noisy minority trying to hold back the energy system transformation.
“The cost of inaction on the climate science is extreme, and rising – just look to our southern neighbours this month. NSW hit a record high 46.1% renewables share in the 4QCY2025 (catching up on our national average, which hit a record 50.1% in 4QCY2025), and the recent heatwaves proved our grid reliability is improving with greater renewables share, particularly rooftop solar and behind the meter batteries. And wholesale electricity prices are coming down as a result of new renewables and battery firming capacity coming on stream.
“We need permanent solutions – new capacity – at speed and scale, not yet more bandaids on unreliable end-of-life coal plant clunkers (Callide C in Queensland last week had yet another outage).
“CEF applauds the Albanese Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program that has underpinned the installation of 200,000 new home batteries with an amazing combined capacity of 4.7GWh in just over six months. That is the speed and scale of action that is being supported by Australian residences. We just need to focus on the cost-competitive solutions at hand to permanently solve our fossil fuel addiction and the resulting energy-related cost of living crisis.”
Johanna Bowyer, Lead Analyst for Australian Electricity at Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), said:
“Eraring was already extended once, extending it for another two years undermines certainty right when investors in new replacement generation need clarity.
“Continual coal life extensions creates uncertainty that scares off new renewable investment.
“NSW needs to move faster on renewables and transmission to make sure coal is replaced in a timely manner.
“Clear, credible coal closure dates are essential if we want new clean energy built on time.
“Extending coal plant lifespans before fully utilising lower-cost, cleaner options like energy efficiency and appliance upgrades in NSW homes is a missed opportunity.
“The original agreement between the NSW Government and Origin Energy, which left open the option for Eraring to run until 2029, has prolonged uncertainty about the plant’s closure.”
ENDS
Contact details:
To arrange interviews with Stephanie Bashir, Tim Buckley or Johanna Bowyer, please contact: Gabrielle Platt on 0493 442 307 on [email protected]
To arrange interviews with Climate Council Councillors Greg Bourne or Joel Gilmore, please contact: Warwick Green on 0439 647 144 or [email protected]
