One outcome of last year's inquiry into the Morwell Mine fire in Victoria's Latrobe Valley was the discovery that the default plan for βrehabilitatingβ the mine would be to let it fill with water naturally, perhaps to become a recreational lake. The hitch: it would take more than a hundred years to fill naturally and the water quality would be terrible due to pollution from coal seams.
Latrobe Valley
Hazelwood Power Station, Australiaβs dirtiest power generator and many decades past its βuse byβ date, will finally close on March 31.
Hazelwoodβs closure is symbolic because of its size, its history and because it provides 20% of Victoriaβs power. But technological advances and environmental concerns have finally caught up with it.
In May, majority owner ENGIEβs CEO Isabelle Kocher said the company was reviewing its remaining coal plants one by one and would close those with the most outdated technology.