The Australian reported on Monday that AGL, fresh from a bruising two weeks in Canberra which saw it meet with the Prime Minister and the Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, over the fate of the Liddell coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley, would pocket more than $500m in taxpayer-funded subsidies and grants for its “flagship solar generators” as the energy giant prepares to shut down the Liddell plant.
The newspaper confirmed AGL has already secured $230m in direct grants and “is forecast to gain far more under the renewable energy target”, potentially deepening the policy divide over energy, as the Prime Minister and Minister take these weeks in the lead up to Christmas to formulate a cohesive response to the energy review by the Commonwealth’s Chief Scientist, Professor Alan Finkel.
