The coal plant will be converted into a renewable energy hub.

AGL-owned coal-fired power plant Liddell Power Station has retired after almost 52 years as the site is intended to be repurposed into an industrial renewable energy hub.

In a statement, AGL said the plans for the renewable energy hub include the building of a 500-megawatt grid-scale battery.

“After providing the market with notice of closure more than seven years ago, Liddell has finally reached the end of its technical life and the time has now come to safely and respectfully retire the station and join the change to a cleaner future,” said AGL CEO Damien Nicks.

Nicks added that the closure of the plant indicated the progress in the company’s climate transition plan which includes the reduction of its emission by around eight million tonnes annually or around 5% of emissions from Australia’s electricity sector in 2021.

Markus Brokhof, COO at AGL, said the demolition process of the plant located in the New South Wales Upper Hunter region is expected to start in early 2024 and may take about two years to complete.

Over 90% of the plant’s materials will be recycled, whilst the critical infrastructure such as transmission connections to the grid will be retained.