AGL has halted all work on a proposed power station south of Sydney in the face of weak demand for electricity, with no rebound anticipated any time soon.
In a brief statement, the energy company said it had stopped work on the 1000 megawatt Dalton power station, which was planned for a site near Marulan, south of Sydney.
The move follows the decision of EnergyAustralia, formerly known as TrueEnergy, to idle one of its four generators at the Yallourn power station in Victoria’s La Trobe valley, also in the wake of weak wholesale electricity prices and demand.
A number of gas-fired power stations are on the drawing board at present in the wake of the introduction of a carbon tax, although the downturn in electricity demand following sustained retail price rises along with weak manufacturing sector demand due to the strong Australian dollar, is expected to see all of the projects shelved.
In NSW in particular, Norsk Hydro has shuttered its Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter, which has removed one of the state’s largest single sources of electricity demand.
An unseasonably warm winter in 2011 followed by a cool summer hurt power demand at that time, although a return to more seasonal weather conditions revived demand in winter, amid optimism within the power industry that electricity demand will recover.
However, the surge in solar panel systems on homes following government subsidies is accounting for a rising portion of electricity generation.
Earlier this week, when temperatures in NSW topped 30 degrees, electricity industry sources said it was estimated more than 10 per cent of demand was supplied by rooftop solar systems during much of the daylight hours.