AGL has decided to defer the mothballing of four generating units from its Adelaide Torrens Island power station due to a change in market demand.
Mothballing refers to the action of keeping a facility in working order but not using it for any production.
In December 2014, AGL announced that four of the older units, known collectively as ‘A station’ and with a capacity of approximately 480MW, would be taken out of service by 2017, based on the market outlook for South Australia.
However, AGL is now deferring this action because of changes in market conditions.
Executive General Manager Group Operations Doug Jackson said, “As a result of the recent retirement of other baseload generation assets in South Australia, market conditions have changed to the extent that there has been a significant tightening of supply to the market.
“In deferring the mothballing of A station, AGL will continue to play a key role in maintaining South Australian security of energy supply,” Mr Jackson said.
AGL Torrens is a natural gas fired power station consisting of eight generating units with a total capacity of up to 1280MW.
Mr Jackson said AGL will now conduct annual reviews of market conditions to determine future plans for A station.
“Although A station is an ageing asset, we will invest appropriately to ensure it can continue to operate safely and efficiently to support our South Australian consumers.
“Over the coming period AGL will discuss with its employees the implications of deferring the mothballing of A station.
“AGL will also continue to assess opportunities for new generation capacity within South Australia to support our transition to a low carbon generation fleet, subject to relevant market signals,” Mr Jackson said.
