With the heat of summer just around the corner, AGL Energy has completed a $247.8 million summer readiness program across Liddell, Bayswater, Loy Yang A and Torrens Island power stations.

AGL Chief Operating Officer, Markus Brokhof said preparing for summer was a year-round task for AGL, as the nation’s largest energy generator.

“Our summer readiness program has been running for eleven years and is critical to providing reliable power for millions of our customers, while also maintaining safe operations,” Mr Brokhof said.

“During the peak months of Summer, there is a natural increase in energy consumption across Australia on hot days and it’s our responsibility to be prepared for this demand.

“Summer places an enormous strain on both our energy generation infrastructure and the people who maintain it. Thousands of dedicated people will work throughout the holiday period in tough conditions to make sure our system is as resilient and reliable as possible.

“When demand increases during the warmer months, we know there is an increased risk of an outage, which is why we make investments in our summer readiness program and fire mitigation works throughout the year to ensure we are as prepared as possible.

“As we prepare for the closure of Liddell, beginning with the first unit retiring in April next year, maintaining our other generation sites is more important than ever.

“Importantly, after a challenging few years in our regional communities across Australia our summer readiness program supports our communities, bringing hundreds of contractor workers to town and providing a much-needed boost to the local economy.

“As we progress our plans for decarbonisation, our coal fired generators will continue to play an essential role in Australia’s energy transition and contribute around 21% of the National Electricity Market (NEM) operational demand.”

Currently, annual generation of AGL’s power stations include 14,310 GWh from AGL Bayswater, 16,348 GWh from AGL Loy Yang and 1,665 GWh from AGL Torrens Island. AGL’s Liddell power station annually generates 7,327 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy, the equivalent of powering more than a million homes per year

AGL is committed to an orderly and responsible transition, with station closure dates no later than 2023 (Liddell), 2035 (Bayswater) and 2048 (Loy Yang A).