- Published:
- Wednesday 10 March 2021
The Andrews Labor Government will put Yallourn Power Station and mine workers at the heart of its long-term response to EnergyAustralia’s decision to close the plant in 2028.
Nothing about today’s announcement from EnergyAustralia will be easy for the workers that have powered Victoria at Yallourn for generations.
The truth is we’re seeing these old, coal fired power stations creaking to a stop right around the world as countries and companies are switching to new, clean, more reliable and more efficient forms of energy.
We can’t ignore that change or pretend it’s not happening – and we owe it to these workers to build a modern energy network that creates and supports thousands of Victorian jobs.
The 2028 closure date announced today by EnergyAustralia gives us time to do that – and it gives us time to manage this transition properly for workers, including contractors and casuals.
We’ll make sure this workforce is at the heart of our long-term response to today’s announcement, and we will deliver a dedicated support package.
Our focus will be on helping workers retrain, reskill and find new opportunities. We’ll design worker and supply chain transition programs, a worker transfer scheme and ongoing support services – delivered in consultation with workers, unions and the local community.
This will be supported by a dedicated Yallourn Workers Transition and Support service established within the Latrobe Valley Authority.
We welcome EnergyAustralia’s investment in a $10 million support package to assist its workforce with the transition.
EnergyAustralia will also build a 350 megawatt four-hour duration battery by 2026 to ensure an orderly transition that keeps the lights on and deliver certainty to new clean energy generation projects connecting to the network.
Since we were elected 35 projects, with more than 2500 megawatts of new renewable energy, are delivering clean energy to Victorians. We have a further 12 projects under construction that will deliver 1700 megawatts of energy. And by 2028 an additional 5000 megawatts of new renewable energy will come online.
This massive transformation is supported by more than $1.6 billion invested in clean energy in the 2020-21 Budget, including $540 million to build a modern and more resilient grid.
Our state is well placed to continue delivering affordable and reliable power to Victorian homes and businesses, as well as creating thousands of new jobs - particularly in regional Victoria.
As we work with EnergyAustralia and the community to manage this transition, the most important thing is this: we want Yallourn workers to know we’ll be with them every step of the way.