Canadian fund manager Brookfield and tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes have launched a bid to take over Australian energy giant AGL and set stronger emissions-reduction targets that would force earlier closures of its remaining coal-fired power stations.
The confidential offer proposes to acquire AGL’s retailing and power generation divisions spanning coal, gas and renewable energy assets across the country. If successful, it would halt the company’s plans to demerge its business later this year.
AGL’s power plants account for an estimated 8 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.Credit:Paul Jones
The offer is being assessed by AGL’s board ahead of an expected update to the stock market this week, according to multiple sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly about the confidential matter.
It comes after AGL earlier this month said it would remove coal from its power generation mix at least three years sooner than initially planned. The closure of AGL’s Bayswater plant in New South Wales would be fast-tracked from 2035 to no later than 2033, the company said, while Victoria’s Loy Yang A plant would retire by 2045 instead of 2048.
The announcement disappointed climate advocates, who have been ramping up demands for the company to exit coal much earlier. The United Nations has called for developed countries to remove coal from their power networks by 2030 in order to avert catastrophic levels of climate change.
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Origin Energy last week gave notice of its intention to retire the 2880-megawatt Eraring generator at Lake Macquarie in NSW up to seven years earlier than its scheduled exit in 2032 as the roll-out of cheaper wind and solar power hammered the plant’s economic viability.
AGL’s power stations are Australia’s largest source of planet-heating greenhouses gases, accounting for about 8 per cent of national emissions.
Brookfield and representatives for Mr Cannon-Brookes declined to comment on Sunday.