The first of the final three turbines at the Liddell Power Station in Muswellbrook will be turned off this morning.
This week marks the end of an era with Australia’s oldest power station, powering down for the final time on Friday. The first of the four turbines was switched off last year, the second will be turned off at 10am today, another on Wednesday and the last one on Friday morning.
AGL’s Liddell Power Station was pumping out about 13 per cent of the state’s electricity supply until the first of the four turbines was turned off.
Once the power station is turned off, AGL’s attention will turn to its demolition.
The demolition process is expected to commence in early 2024 and take approximately two years. Work will include removal of all main structures (boilers, chimneys, turbine houses, coal plant) and ancillary buildings, and leveling of the site using recovered crushed concrete.
More than 90 per cent of the materials in the power station are expected to be recycled during demolition, including 70,000 tonnes of steel which is more than the total weight of steel works for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Critical infrastructure, such as transmission connections, will be retained to support the ongoing use of the site as an industrial energy hub, helping provide employment and essential economic activity for the region. Planning approval has already been granted for a 500MW/2GWh grid-scale battery.