AGL has announced it will shut down its Torrens Island ‘B’ gas power station in South Australia in 2026, nearly a decade earlier than expected.

Key points:

  • AGL will close its Torrens Island ‘B’ Power Station in 2026
  • The energy giant says the facility is losing millions of dollars
  • The government says the closure should not affect the state’s power supply

The energy giant originally flagged it would cease all operations in 2035, to transform it into a low-carbon industrial energy hub.

The new closure date of June 2026 will coincide with the planned completion of the state’s new interconnector with New South Wales.

The first of the station’s four B units was mothballed in October 2021 and all four will close on June 30, 2026.

AGL says the B power station is losing millions of dollars.

Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the closure should not negatively affect the state’s power supply.

“This is not necessarily a bad thing, we will have enough power to supply ourselves and it won’t be closing for another four years,” he said.

“But what it does show is that when you interconnect with larger jurisdictions you displace all your own thermal capacity.”

AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhof said closing was a “tough decision” but the Torrens Island B station, which began operations in 1976, was losing millions of dollars.

“We are losing money with this power station here in the current environment and this will be just emphasised by the new built interconnector — which is currently under construction — EnergyConnect,” he said.

AGL Chief Operating Officer Markus Brokhof said the under-construction interconnector with NSW partly influenced the company’s decision.(ABC News)

Mr Brokhof said 120 employees would be affected by the closure, but it was “too early to say” how many of those people would lose their jobs and how many would be able to be retrained and employed in other areas.

“The jobs of today are not the jobs of tomorrow … we have to see what the future energy hub looks like,” he said.

Mr Koutsantonis said AGL’s investments in renewable technology at Torrens Island “may be able to soak up a lot of those job losses”.

Demolition of the existing station will begin six months after it closes.

“We’ve always said this is not the end of Torrens Island, we want to convert this island into a low-carbon energy hub and that is what we are doing,” he said.

Crews working to repair the interconnector near Tailem Bend on the weekend.(ABC News: Che Chorley)

SA reconnects to national grid

Meanwhile, South Australia’s interconnector with Victoria has been repaired, reconnecting the state to the National Energy Market.

A transmission tower near Tailem Bend was toppled during a severe storm more than a week ago, isolating the state from the national energy grid.

The tower was originally expected to be up and running on the weekend, but another vigorous cold front further delayed repair works.

The interconnector’s operators Electranet said the installation of temporary transmission towers meant the network has returned to normal operations, reducing the need for generation constraints.

Planning is now underway for a new, permanent transmission tower.