Augusta Power Station will today cease power generation, with Northern Power Station being brought offline at approximately 9:30am (ACST). Disconnecting Northern Power Station from the network will mark the official closure of Flinders Operations, which encompasses Augusta Power Stations, Leigh Creek Coal Mine and coal haulage operations.
Alinta Energy continues to manage and operate the Leigh Creek Town and is working with SA Government to transition the town back to government.
Alinta Energy CEO, Jeff Dimery said “There is no doubt that today is a sad day for our people, with the cessation of generation signalling the end of an important and proud era for Alinta Energy.
“I would like to reiterate once more that the decision to close the Flinders Operations is by no means a reflection on the efforts or the dedication of our people. The commitment, passion and pride of our workforce at Port Augusta and Leigh Creek have been one of the greatest assets to the Alinta business over the past five years.”
“When we announced closure, we made a commitment that our people would remain our number one priority throughout this transition. And to that note, Alinta Energy committed over $3.5 million in funding to provide a suite of transitional support services to our people, in addition to the $75 million of redundancy benefits and entitlement packages. We will continue to support our employees post closure with the continued availability of training,” Mr Dimery said.
The remaining 139 employees at Augusta Power Station will continue working to secure the site this week, before a staged departure over the next two weeks. A small group of employees will remain until the end of June 2016 for decommissioning activities, before handing the site over to a demolition contractor.
Today’s closure will have no impact on our commitment to Alinta Energy’s retail business and the supply of energy to residential and business customers in South Australia.