THE largest gas-fired power station in NSW, the Colongra Power Station, has been sold by the NSW government to Snowy Hydro today for $234 million.
NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance said the sale of Colongra, which was run by State-owned corporation Delta Electricity, would help put NSW into a strong financial position.
As a result of the transaction, a $90 million liability associated with the Colongra gas lateral pipeline lease has been removed from Delta Electricity’s balance sheet.
“We have worked hard over the past four years to turn this around, and as a result of our electricity generation transactions, we have delivered proceeds of $2.1 billion and removed more than $2 billion in liabilities from the State’s balance sheet," Mr Constance said.
The Colongra sale adds to the earlier successful sales of:
Mt Piper and Wallerawang coal-fired power stations (to Energy Australia)
Bayswater and Liddell coal-fired power stations (to AGL)
Eraring coal-fired power station (to Origin Energy)
Shoalhaven hydro power station (to Origin Energy)
Green State Power mini hydros and wind farms (to Trustpower)
Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad said the purchase was strategic win for the company.
"Colongra will play a key role in enabling Snowy Hydro to focus on growing our retail business in regional areas through our Red Energy Brand," Mr Broad said.
“We don’t have a big corporate book yet but we believe with our recent acquisitions we can manage large peak loads and be very competitive in that market.
"This is an exciting time of growth for Snowy Hydro and we believe will be another very important chapter in Snowy Hydro’s remarkable and iconic history.”
The NSW Government was advised by Goldman Sachs, Baker & McKenzie and KPMG for the sale of the Colongra power station.
Roderick Makim
Senior journalist for The Land.
Senior journalist for The Land.
