Vales Point power station first began operating on the shores of southern Lake Macquarie in 1963, with the current power station, Vales Point B, commissioned in 1978.
Publicly owned until 2015 when sold to Sunset International Power for $1 million, the deal capped the new owner’s site rehabilitation costs to just $10M.
Two years on from the sale, the facility was valued at $722M.
In December 2021, the value of the power station was written down to $156 million and in September 2022 Delta Electricity agreed to sell to Czech company, Sev.en Global Investments.
The acquisition of the Vales Point power station and associated coal mine, CVC Colliery by Se.ven Global Investments was finalised on December 18th 2022.
The role of Delta’s Vales Point power station in two devastating fish kills that took place in mid-2002 in Wyee Bay are currently under investigation by the NSW EPA.
In 2022, an air pollution exemption granted to Vales Point power station by the NSW EPA was successfully challenged by environment and legal groups, who argued that community health impacts of toxic air emissions - including childhood asthma and premature deaths were - being ignored, pointing out that Vales Point routinely breach NSW air protection laws.
The script is starkly similar when it comes to water pollution from Vales Point, with offsite water contamination from the south-east portion of the ash dump identified in the Environment Protection Licence this year.
Delta Coal which supplies Vales Point have an active proposal to continue mining largely exploited seams under the lake and ash dump until 2029 and community fears over worsening pollution impacts from this aging facility under this potential new ownership have been made public.
Polluting practices under scuntiny
“We fear that the place we live and love will continue to wither under these burdens for an unknown length of time.
We need a transition plan that provides accountability, transparency and certainty. Without it, shaping and embracing this once-in-a-generation opportunities to diversify and strengthen our region for the future will be lost.
Please refuse the sale of Vales Point power station to Se.ven Global Investment.”
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Open Letter to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Sat. Oct 22. 2022
In an open letter to the Newcastle Herald, eleven community environment groups from Lake Macquarie and the Hunter urge the Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers to reject the sale of the Vales Point power station for fear of worsening impacts.
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Op-ed: Lake Macquarie has suffered power station pollution long enough, Sat. Oct 22. 2022
“The Lake Macquarie community and the Lake itself has long suffered as a result of pollution from the Vales Point power station. The facility is old, dirty, and poorly maintained. The expectation has been that the power station would close in 2029 and the clean-up could begin.”
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Editorial: Vales Point sale at time of power crisis, Sat. Oct 22. 2022
“Vales Point on southern Lake Macquarie stayed in government hands until 2015, when the Coalition state government controversially sold it to energy entrepreneurs Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery for $1 million.”