By Noel Murphy
INDUSTRY sources have rejected claims wind energy company GDF Suez Australian Energy is looking to buy Alcoa’s Anglesea coal-fired power plant.
GDF Suez, owner and operator of the Hazelwood and Loy Yang B power plants, and one of the nation’s leading independent power generators, is the latest target of Surf Coast Air Action as it seeks to identify any prospective buyers for the plant.
A series of social media demands by SCAA has called for the State Government to rule out licensing GDF Suez, arguing the company would not want to buy the supposedly “bushfire-prone” plant.
GDF Suez would not comment on the matter but an industry source told the Independent the energy company was “not interested in any way, shape or form” in the plant.
“I can tell you it’s not on their agenda at all,” the source said. “They don’t want to get involved.”
SCAA raised the GDF after the recent Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry board criticised the company for removing basic fire protection infrastructure from the mine and not seeing the risk posed by nearby bushfires.
“Apropos the Hazelwood report the people of #Anglesea deserve clarity,” SCAA posted to twitter.
“Are you considering buying the coal mine & plant?”
SCAA’s Facebook account claims nine companies have ruled out any interest in purchasing the “redundant and grossly polluting” coal mine and power plant.
“Others including GDF Suez, Alinta Energy and ERM Power have been silent,” it says.
“We call on any company that may be interested to be transparent about that fact and to consult with the Surf Coast community about what it wants.”
More than 80 workers face the jobless scrapheap if Alcoa cannot sell the Anglesea plant but SCAA, with a petition of 1500 signatories protesting the power plant, has demanded its closure.
The Surf Coast Shire council has called on the Federal Government to clean up or decommission the power plant.
