Victoria pioneering climate just transition package for Hazelwood coal workers

A special $20 million worker transfer package was announced today for workers affected by the closure of Engie's Hazelwood Power Station. This will allow early retirement for workers at other LaTrobe Power stations creating places for Hazelwood workers that want to continue their careers in power generation.

This transfer package is an important component of a suite of support mechanisms being put into place for the community, a part of a just transition being pioneered by the Victorian government driven by the necessity to move to zero carbon emissions by climate change.

“We will always stand up for the Latrobe Valley and with the worker transfer scheme for Hazelwood workers, we are doing just that. This is great news for jobs and for Hazelwood workers and their families.” said the Premier Daniel Andrews.

This particular scheme will cost $20 million to assist around 150 retrenched Hazelwood workers to remain in the power industry. In the first instance, employment transfer to AGL Energy’s Loy Yang A will be facilitated, but later transfers to Engie's Loy Yang B may be available.

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.

Latrobe Valley: Finding Hope in Morwell at climate ground zero

On Saturday I dragged myself out of bed early to catch a 7am train to Southern Cross station. I had committed myself to journeying with a party of Greens supporters, including the State MP for Melbourne Ellen Sandell and the Federal MP Adam Bandt, to the town of Morwell in the heart of the LaTrobe Valley. This is where much of Victoria's electricity is generated from three huge thermal power station complexes and three huge open cut mines where lignite is easily extracted.

I travelled to Morwell to listen to members of the local community on the future of coal, and their concerns over health and economic transitioning. Some of them understand that the future of coal is coming to an end and requires transition planning, and this needs to be done actively on a local community level.

Morwell is a town of 14,000 with the Hazelwood open cut pit within a few hundred metres of the south side of the town. On the south side of the pit sits Hazelwood power station, owned by GDF Suez Australian Energy. About 100,000 people live within 20 kilometres of this mine. A major mine fire at Hazelwood in February-March 2014 that became one of Victoria's worst industrial disasters, provided a wakeup call to the local community.

Hazelwood is one of the most polluting power stations, not only in Australia but in the industrial world, according to the OECD, both in regard to the toxic cocktail of chemicals it daily emits into the air and water, and the carbon emissions intensity it spews into the air of the Latrobe Valley. Carbon emissions are currently 15.5 MT CO2e per year, with carbon intensity of 1.4 Tonnes CO2/MWh. Just this one facility produces about 15 per cent of Victoria’s total carbon emissions. The power station is also a major consumer of water: 1.31 megalitres of water is consumed per gigawatt hour of power generated.

While ensuring the growth of renewables is important, ultimately closing the ageing power stations like Hazelwood that generate high carbon emissions is essential to ensure a safe climate for ourselves and future generations. To ensure we stay under the two degree Celsius limit that all government's that are signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including Australia, agreed to do at Cancun in 2010.

Tony Abbott praises coal for prosperity ignoring huge health and climate costs

Our Prime Minister Tony Abbott is out of touch with the realities of coal with regard to it's ongoing impact on population health and mortality and indirect impact on health and environment through climate change.

At a press conference for opening a new joint venture coal mine by BHP and Mitsubishi he told the world: "Coal is essential for the prosperity of Australia. Coal is essential for the prosperity of the world. Energy is what sustains prosperity and coal is the world’s principle energy source and it will be for many decades to come."

Did you cringe too? Abbott is an international laughing stock for championing coal and ignoring it's health and climate change impacts. His only friend on the international stage is Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who has his hands dirty developing the carbon intensive Albertan tar sands.

New coal fired power can't even compete now on cost with renewables already a cheaper source of energy.

His endorsement of coal and coal companies flies in the face of overwhelming support by the Australian public for the rollout of renewable energy generation in Australia.

Here is what Tony Abbott said at his doorstop interview opening the Caval Ridge coal mine on Monday 13 October 2013, according to the Prime Ministers website: