Engie will close its 1,600 MW Hazelwood coal-fired power plant and the adjoining mine in the State of Victoria (Australia) by the end of March 2017. The group owns a 72% stake in the power plant (28% held by Mitsui) that was commissioned in stages between 1964 and 1971. In May 2016, the group announced the upcoming sale or closure is due to specificities of the Australian market, namely depressed market conditions, repeal of the Carbon Regime in 2014 and outages at the power plant (located near an open-cut pit coal mine that burned uncontrollably for weeks in early 2014).
Engie has also announced that it is considering selling two thermal power plants in Australia, namely the 1,000 MW Loy Yang B coal-fired power plant and the 118 MW Kwinana gas-fired power plant.
These announcements are part of Engie's plans to exit the coal business; in October 2015, the group decided not to build any coal-fired power plant and to focus on low-CO2 emission technologies, such as renewables and gas-fired projects. Engie currently operates 12 GW of coal-fired power plants worldwide, accounting for 15% of its total power generation; it will continue to develop coal-fired projects with firm contracts but drop projects without any contract signed, including a 600 MW coal-fired power plant in South Africa and a 1,320 MW project in Turkey. In 2016, Engie has already sold or closed coal assets which represent more than 5 GW of capacity.
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