Today, more than 50 years after the Liddell power station began generating electricity for NSW, the first of its four units will close.
Liddell has been the backbone of the NSW electricity industry for decades, while playing an important role in the community, providing jobs and prosperity and contributing to the cultural and industrial history of the region. We are proud of the role we have played as a prudent operator and reliable supplier to the National Energy Market - always having front of mind, our responsibility to keep the lights on.
Many of our employees have dedicated their careers to delivering reliable energy from this power station to millions of Australian households and businesses. I thank them for this.
And while today is the beginning of the end of one chapter, it also marks a significant step towards the start of a new one for the Liddell site and the Hunter. We remain committed to supporting our employees, community, and neighbours as we lead and enable Australia's energy transition. Our partnership with the Wonnarua Nation will be essential for repurposing the site at the Hunter Hub and our joint aim to "close the gap", as well as acknowledging the traditional owners of this land.
Our Liddell and Bayswater power stations in the Upper Hunter are at the centre of this future, and AGL's decarbonisation path. From providing a reliable source of energy today, to laying the foundation for a future ecosystem of new technology, low emissions, new skills and innovation.
As these power stations approach the end of their operational lives, Liddell next year and Bayswater between 2030-2033, a unique opportunity emerges to contribute to the region's economic diversification and growth, and support the Hunter's transition to a low carbon future.
We will rejuvenate the Liddell site into a low carbon industrial energy hub to provide new sources of energy generation and extend the site's life, long beyond that of coal-fired power. We are working with partners on several elements that will make up the Hunter Energy Hub, which will be powered by clean energy delivered through grid-scale batteries, wind, solar thermal storage, pumped hydro, a waste-to-energy plant, and the co-location of industry.
The energy transition is not something that will happen in the future, it is happening now. AGL has 13 projects in planning, development or feasibility stages. Liddell is at the centre of this with the recent approval of Liddell's 500 MW grid-scale battery, our memorandum of understanding with Fortescue Future Industries to explore the development of a hydrogen facility and the proposed hydro power station at Bells Mountain.
We are excited about these plans, but we know we can't do it on our own.
Australia's path to decarbonisation requires a coordinated plan across government, industry, regulators and the community. This is a critical point, that I know to be true from my experience in Germany.
The energy transition must be planned properly, taking into account the affordability and reliability of supply for the community as well as the transmission capacity.
We have already made some good progress on this transition - as an industry, a country and as AGL. For AGL we have already invested $4.8 billion in renewable and firming generation in the last two decades and have added more than 2350MW of new generation capacity to the grid since 2003.
Not only does this capacity now form an important part of Australia's energy supply, it has taught us a lot about renewable and firming technology and developed our capabilities in this area.
Our plan to demerge AGL Australia from AGL Energy and rename the latter to Accel Energy will continue this legacy of innovation and technology development to deliver a cleaner future. Through the demerger we will unlock value and allow our shareholders, our community and our people to share in the potential future value that will be created as Australia decarbonises. We have defined new commitments that reflect decisive action on climate for both companies.
These commitments set a new baseline against which AGL Australia and Accel Energy will measure their success and strive to improve as the energy market evolves.
For our employees at Liddell who have contributed enormously to the energy industry over the past five decades, repurposing generation sites such as Liddell into energy hubs will unlock opportunities for jobs creation and economic activity for them and future generations.
In this way, we will build on the significant history of Liddell and keep the community and our people at the heart of our transition plan as we play a leading role in Australia's path to net zero.
