NSW delays decision about future of country’s biggest power station until after energy security review

Coalition insiders say the cost of extending half of Eraring power station’s four units beyond 2025 exceeds $300m a year. Photograph: Dean Sewell/Greenpeace/AAP

The New South Wales government says it will hold off any decision about the future of the country’s largest power station until at least next month, after it receives a “health check” on the state’s energy security.

Origin Energy, owner of the 2880MW Eraring plant near Lake Macquarie, also said on Friday that “nothing had changed” on the plan to shut the coal-fired power station no sooner than August 2025.