| Coal-fired stations too risky, says AGL |
 |
 |
 |
| Fossil Fuels - Coal |
| Tuesday, 09 September 2008 12:31 |
|
Sydney Morning Herald Thursday 21/8/2008 Page: 4 ONE OF the country"s largest electricity suppliers has said buying the state"s coal-fired stations ranks as a low priority because of the financial risks of carbon emissions trading. The managing director of AGL Energy, Michael Fraser, said the company was unlikely to buy the NSW generation assets because their carbon emissions will cost the future operator. This made them an uncertain and vulnerable investment. "At the moment it"s extremely difficult to work out how you would put a value on [the generation assets], it"s not a preference for the company," he said. The comments come as the NSW Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat, is due to present a report today on the sale process of the electricity assets. The Premier, Morris Iemma, has said he will review the privatisation plans if the report is critical of them. AGL had previously said it was considering its involvement in the privatisation as it rearranged its finances. The involvement of several other potential bidders in the sale is also under a cloud, which could drive down the price the assets fetch at auction. Babcock and Brown Power has financial woes and is no longer a contender. Origin Energy, once considered a front runner, is defending a takeover bid from the British company BG, which restricts its involvement. An energy analyst at UBS, David Leitch, said: "Why would AGL buy a bunch of coal-fired generators in NSW if they are going to have a carbon liability that just goes up and up?" Mr Leitch said the assets would ultimately find buyers, but their value had gone down since the move towards carbon trading. Mr Fraser said contracts to supply the plant"s coal were due to expire in the next few years, and this would raise costs further for a potential buyer. Coal prices would probably rise sharply in the renegotiations in line with booming export price for coal. AGL is interested the NSW assets" retail side, which includes EnergyAustralia - estimated to be worth about $1.9 billion. But it could face a battle gaining the competition regulator"s approval. |
Recycling Waste Heat Via CogenerationSolve Climate has an interesting post on cogeneration in the US and the - Co-Generation: Clean as Wind, Reliable as Coal. The title isn"t strictly true - while it can improve the efficiency of many forms of power generation, CHP... Read more Coal | | Saturday, 13 September 2008 |
Clean Loy Yang costs huge Herald SunWednesday 27/8/2008 Page: 62THE boss of one of Victoria"s biggest power plants says it will be "very, very tough" for the state"s brown coal-fired electricity generators to cut carbon output by 20 per cent by 2020 to meet Rudd... Read more Coal | | Thursday, 11 September 2008 |
Hawaii Swaps Coal Power Plant for Biomass Power plants swapping their coal for renewable fuel sources seems to be a growing trend, and Hawaii looks to add this idea to the host of other sustainable practices the state has been implementing. Hawaii has just finished a... Read more Coal | | TUSEDAY, 2 September 2008 |
Our coal emissions are worstHerald SunFriday 29/8/2008 Page: 7AUSTRALIANS continue to lead the world on creating emissions from burning coal, pumping the equivalent of 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year per person, a global study has shown. The Centre for Global Development, a... Read more Coal | | Septemberonday, 15 September 2008 |
Coal To Plastic In ChinaMy recent post on bioplastics had one commenter at TOD noting that China is looking at producing plastic from coal (and that Pakistan claims to have the world"s 4th largest coal reserves).Given China"s interest in coal to liquids I thought... Read more Coal | | Septemberonday, 1 September 2008 |
A huge bet on coal seam gasBG"s drawn out takeover attempt for Origin Energy has finally bitten the dust, with Origin instead selling a large stake in its coal seam methane (coal seam gas) assets to Conoco Phillips, with the gas destined for a large LNG... Read more Coal | | Wednesday, 10 September 2008 |
Coal-fired stations too risky, says AGLSydney Morning HeraldThursday 21/8/2008 Page: 4ONE OF the country"s largest electricity suppliers has said buying the state"s coal-fired stations ranks as a low priority because of the financial risks of carbon emissions trading. The managing director of AGL Energy, Michael... Read more Coal | | TUSEDAY, 9 September 2008 |
Reliance on coal could scuttle usAgeFriday 18/7/2008 Page: 13It would be shortsighted of Australia to rely on coal and not other energy sources.THE Rudd Government"s green paper on a "carbon pollution reduction scheme", and the methods to achieve this reduction, have some strongly innovative elements.... Read more Coal | | Augustonday, 11 August 2008 |
|
More in: Coal |
|
100% - + 8Show options | |
