"Steve you said you are always late, you were about 20 minutes today but that's ok," AGL chief executive Damien Nicks commented to veteran shift manager Steve Lanesbury moments after Liddell Power Station had sent its final power to the state's electricity grid.
In the end it took longer than anyone had expected to kill the iconic generator's last operating turbine.
About 40 operators, engineers and executives crammed into the control room to oversee the final stages of the process at 10am.
With the coal supply shut off, the turbine's output slowly dropped. But, as if refusing to die, it sent a few last pulses of electricity before flatlining at 10.15am.
Suddenly the sustained silence that had hung over the control room for the best part of 30 minutes lifted. There were hugs and applause. Tears were choked back as those assembled reflected on the historic moment they had just participated in.
Mr Lanesbury and veteran plant controller Barry Moffitt were given the honour of formally shutting Liddell down.
Mr Lanesbury, a 44-year veteran, later said his final shift had been surreal.
"I haven't shed a tear yet, but I suspect I will later," he said.
"It went on longer than expected; I've never seen anything like it. She was still going, we were basically trying to turn her life support system off and let her go by herself but we couldn't do that in the end. We actually had to push the button, which was a bit sad."
Bayswater-Liddell general manager Len McLachlan said the level of employee commitment to the 52-year-old coal-fired power station had been extraordinary.
"We have got so many employees who have more than 40-plus years service; I was talking to an employee this morning who had almost 50 years."
"When you consider that plus the emotion, the pride and the respect, they really appreciate the fact that we are paying tribute to what Liddell has meant for this community."
About 60 per cent of Liddell's workforce will transfer to Bayswater Power Station, while the remainder will retire.
The rest of this year will be spent decommissioning the plant and preparing it for demolition.
Mr McLachlan said, despite the sadness associated with the closure of Liddell, workers accepted they were part of a clean energy transition.
"It's growing knowledge over time. People recognise that the transition is occurring. There's also questions about how we are going to do that and what it's going to take but people understand that things are going to be different."
Jackson Channon, who has worked as electrician at Liddell and Bayswater for the past seven years, is part of three generations who have worked at Liddell. He said he was excited by emerging career opportunities.
"There are plenty of opportunities in the renewables sector. It will be very exciting to see what the future brings for me," he said.
With Liddell passed into history, the plant's employees gathered on the adjacent oval to celebrate and reflect on the end of an era in Australian baseload electricity generation.
"I know this has been an incredibly challenging week, a reflective week, but you have done an amazing job here over this last week," Mr Nicks said to those assembled in the control room after the plant had shut down.
"I want to thank you for what everyone has done here over the past 52 years."
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