Frydenberg in Hazelwood power station closure talks with Engie in Paris

Rather than just meeting Environment Minister Segolene Royal and discuss the upcoming COP22 in Marrakech, the real reason Josh Frydenberg was in Paris was to meet with the Management of Engie, the owners of the Hazelwood coal fired Power station.

It has been rumoured Hazelwood may close down as soon as April 2017, and Engie is under pressure from the French state to disengage from coal. The French state owns a one third share of Engie.

Engie, trading as GDF SUEZ/ Australian Energy, is listed as the third highest carbon polluter in Australia by the Australian Conservation Foundation. In the 2014-2015 year Hazelwood Hazelwood was responsible for 15.5 MT CO2-e of emissions. It's emissions intensity was 1.4 Tonnes CO2/MWh. (See Australia's Biggest Polluters PDF)

"We're very conscious at the Federal Government level of the heightened speculation about Hazelwood's future," he told 774 ABC Melbourne's Mornings with Jon Faine as reported at the ABC online.

Hazelwood closure or sale mooted by Engie CEO, under pressure of French Government

This article first published at nofibs.com.au

Engie's CEO Isabelle Kocher told a French Senate Committee on May 25th the company was considering closure or sale of the Hazelwood Power Station in the La Trobe Valley.

"For the Hazelwood plant, we are studying all possible scenarios, including closure, or a sale if the state of Victoria tells us that it cannot meet power generating needs without this plant," Kocher said, according to a Reuters report.

Dirty secret revealed at EngieGroup AGM: #Hazelwood

A live question was asked at the Engie Group General Assembly (AGM) in France about the Hazelwood Power station in the LaTrobe Valley of Australia, Engie's dirty secret. Engie say they will only generate low or no carbon electricity, but Hazelwood and plans to upgrade the turbines at Loy Yang B power station proves that this talk is just greenwashing.

Engie needs to show corporate responsibility in settling the claim for costs for putting out the 45 day 2014 mine fire. They should be building renewables and planning the phased closure of Hazelwood and Loy Yang B power stations and rehabilitation of the coal mines. They need to consult and negotiate with the LaTrobe Valley and Morwell community about employment, energy and mine rehabilitation for a just transition.

Engie, more widely kknown as GDF Suez, is a majority owner along with Japanese company Mitsui of two coal mines and power stations in Victoria. The subsidiary company, International Power, runs the Hazelwood and Loy Yang B power stations. Yet Engie has just announced that it hopes to spend ‘tens of millions’ of dollars to upgrade the turbines in the Loy Yang B power station.

La Trobe Valley coal mine rehabilitation bonds increased to $254 million

This is a repost of an article by John Englart published at Climate Action Moreland.

On Friday 15th April Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced in Morwell the Victorian government's response to the final landmark inquiry into the 2014 Hazelwood Mine Fire. This response includes an initial $50 million in the Victorian state budget to implement the recommendations, and a major increase in the rehabilitation bonds for the three La Trobe Valley brown coal mines.

“The people of the Latrobe Valley have been completely vindicated. I’m so proud of their efforts. They never gave up and neither will we.” said Premier Dan Andrews.

Corporate Greenwashing and conflict of interest at UN climate conference #COP21

I was surprised at what I found of the extent of conflict of interest between the sponsors of the UN Climate Conference, the French State and the UNFCCC secretariat.

On Thursday evening I left the UN climate conference at the Le Bourget centre straight after the Fossil of the Day ceremony at 6pm to attend the Pinocchio awards which examines and compares the greenwashed credentials of major corporations.

These awards are run by Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth) to highlight corporate mal-practices. The three categories being judged were local impacts, lobbying and greenwashing.

Europe Diary: #Engie stops new #coal investment but continues existing dirty coal plants #Paris2015

There has been a campaign to close down the aging and highly polluting Hazelwood coal mine and power station for several years. Hazelwood's French owner GDF Suez recently rebranded itself as Engie and in their latest announcement declared they would stop investing in new coal plants. But they refused to give any changed undertaking regarding operating plants such as Hazelwood and Loy Yang B power stations in the La Trobe Valley of Victoria. Original article published at nofibs.com.au