Energy Minister Mike Nahan announ- ced the closure of the 37-year-old Stage C of the station yesterday afternoon and said the plant would continue to operate as normal.
Mr Nahan said it was conservatively estimated that it would have cost $50 million to extend the life of the plant to 2018 or 2020.
‘The closure of Kwinana Power Station Stage C will not impact the WA electricity market,’ he said.
He said Verve Energy would help staff redeploy in the corporation, undertake retrain- ing or access redundancy.
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READ NOWKwinana MLA Roger Cook said while he was concerned local workers would be ‘put on the jobs queue’ as a result of the decision, there was a silver lining.
‘The decision will open opportunities to invest in other forms of energy such as renewables; lowering the State’s reliance on coal fired power is a positive,’ he said.
Kwinana Stages A and B were closed in September, 2010, and December, 2008, respectively. The retirement of Stage C is the final step in phasing Kwinana Power Station out of service.