Racetrack or lake? Debate heats up over future of Hazelwood

The shut-down of the Hazelwood power plant, finally completed just weeks ago, leaves a legacy that will last much longer than the jolt to Victoria’s energy market when the station’s old coal-fuelled turbines were turned off early last year.

Source: Latrobe Council

The giant plant and its adjoining open-cut coal mine leave a deep and ugly scar on the Latrobe Valley.

Everyone agrees the site must be rehabilitated. But the Latrobe City Council and Hazelwood owner Engie seem at loggerheads over what should replace the station and coal mine, which has a 16-kilometre perimeter, that once sustained the local economy and helped power Victoria.

The Latrobe Valley is facing a “disappointing and mediocre” replacement under Engie’s current plans to create a massive lake, the council says.

Read the story from The Age Benjamin Preiss  - “Racetrack or lake? Debate heats up over future of Hazelwood.”

Solar providing more power than Hazelwood

Rooftop solar installations are now providing more power to the grid than the Hazelwood power plant did.

The growth in rooftop solar has helped offset power bills.

Green Energy Markets said the output from solar installations into the National Electricity Market was greater than the now-closed Hazelwood brown coal-fired power station.

Read Cole Latimer’s story from The Age - “Solar providing more power than Hazelwood."