The head of Origin Energy has given the strongest indication yet that Eraring Power Station may not close in 2025.
The company announced in February that it was bringing forward the closure date for the plant by seven years to August 2025.
While the company has not officially moved from that date it has said that it continues to "assess the market over time".
Origin chief executive Frank Calabria told a Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) forum this week that replacement renewable energy infrastructure was not coming online fast enough to manage coal-fired power station closures while also achieving the nation's objective of having 82 per cent renewables by 2030.
"As each day passes, not only does the urgency and complexity of the challenge increase, so too does the cost," Mr Calabria told the CEDA forum.
His comments echo similar sentiments expressed recently by the Australian Energy Market Regulator regarding the need for an accelerated shift to wind and solar, supported by batteries, to help drive down skyrocketing power bills.
Mr Calabria said coal closure timeframes had accelerated this year as part of a push to meet the nation's emissions targets.
"... however consideration must be given to the cumulative impact of these closures on the market and the prospect of delays to new infrastructure coming online. There may be a requirement to delay the exit of some of these coal units, and only for as long as needed, to maintain the security and reliability of the [grid]," he said.
"These policies will need to be flexible, with consideration given to commercial factors like compensation for costs incurred in running uneconomic plants, as well as the need to retain coal plant workers, secure coal supply contracts, and many other related matters."
He said firming technologies such as batteries, gas peakers and pumped hydro would play an increasingly important role in the renewable energy transition.
"Gas peakers stepped in to fill the void left by coal plant outages in June, and without them the lights would likely have gone out," he said.
"As we look ahead to more renewables entering the system, and the likelihood of further reliability challenges for the ageing coal fleet, firming technologies including storage, pumped hydro and gas peakers will play a critical role as they can step in quickly when the market needs more supply."
Origin is presently progressing plans for a 700 megawatt battery at the Eraring site.
The project, to be built in three phases, will be able to send power into the grid for up to four hours at times when renewables sources are not available.
It will complement the Southern Hemisphere's largest network battery will be built at the site of the old Lake Munmorah Power Station.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said last month that construction of the 700 megawatt Macquarie Battery was expected to begin in early 2023, pending approval, and would be completed by mid-2025 in advance of Eraring Power Station's earliest closure date.
The government said the project will drive up to $1 billion in private investment in new energy storage and associated network upgrades, generating more than 100 jobs in the Hunter and Central Coast regions.
Transgrid has been appointed the network operator.
A new high voltage connection will also be built between Bayswater and Eraring power stations as part of a plan to reinforce the state's evolving clean energy grid.
The proposed new 500 kilovolt Eraring-Bayswater connection is part of the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP), which is part of group of projects that will help connect the Central West-Orana, New England and Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zones.
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