(Reuters) - Australia's AGL Energy Ltd <AGL.AX> plans to build an A$400 million ($302.68 million) gas-fired power plant in New South Wales, to bridge a possible supply shortage when its Liddell power station shuts in about four years.
The project is expected to be completed by 2022, around the same time as the coal-fired Liddell plant is expected to be shut, which was part of the company's phased exit from coal amidst a widespread push for clean energy generation.
"Electricity generation is undergoing an increasingly rapid transition to lower-cost, clean energy renewable and storage technologies," AGL Chief Executive Andy Vesey said. "This requires the complementary development of flexible, dispatchable gas-fired technology, as well as policies to support these developments."
Australia's government, however, maintains a fuel-neutral energy policy with stable energy supply along with lower power prices as a priority. It scrapped subsidies for several renewable projects last year.
Earlier this month, the country's biggest energy producer came under pressure from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to sell or keep running the Liddell station, after Alinta Energy <IPO-ALI.AX> expressed interest in a purchase.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Biju Dwarakanath)
