Majority owner Engie has announced that it will close its 1,600 megawatt brown coal-fired power station at Hazelwood on March 31 next year, with 750 jobs to be lost.
Fairfax and others report that France’s Engie said the plant was unviable to continue operating or to sell.
“Hazelwood is now more than 50 years old. It has been a wonderful contributor to the National Electricity Market but we have now reached the point where it is no longer economic to operate,” said Australian CEO Alex Keisser in a statement.
In total, 750 jobs would be lost, with 450 of these direct employees, reports Nine.
About 230 jobs would be needed next year and in 2018, according to Engie, as the plant is decommissioned.
The closure has been a point of speculation recently, and yesterday it was reported that a decision had been made.
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said that the federal government would work collaboratively with the Victorian government, and a ministerial taskforce had been formed “to provide the support the community needs to ensure there are jobs and opportunities for the workers that will lose their jobs as a result of this power station closing”.