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The Prime Minister rang AGL chairman Graeme Hunt on Tuesday night following confirmation from Alinta chief executive officer Geoff Dimery that his company was interested in prolonging the life of the Hunter Valley power station for up to seven years.
Delta Electricity, which has previously expressed interest in Liddell, also renewed its interest again on Wednesday.
AGL remained unenthusiastic, indicating it would fulfil its legal obligation to consider an offer but no more.
"AGL is relying on Liddell to generate power for our customers until 2022 and we will require its infrastructure for our replacement plans into the future," it said in a statement.
"AGL received an approach from Alinta last night expressing an interest in entering negotiations to acquire the Liddell Power Station. No formal offer has been received.
"Should a formal offer for Liddell be received, it would be given consideration in order to meet our obligations to customers and shareholders."
Mr Turnbull told reporters on Wednesday there was no reason why Liddell could not be kept operating for a few more years.
"We know that there is going to be a shortage of dispatchible power, electricity, in NSW between Liddell closing and the Snowy 2.0 coming online which is to be 2024, 2025," he said.
" So there's at least two, three years where there is a risk of a shortfall in dispatchible electricity in NSW.
"I spoke to the chairman of AGL again last night, and...I said to him, 'look, it's in the public interest, it's in the community's interest...it's in AGL's interests to be seen to be a responsible player in the electricity market to keep this power station going for a few more years to make sure there isn't a shortfall'.
"Then if they choose to close it, then they can do so. But it's really a timing issue.
" AGL should do the right thing by the - their customers, by the community, and I think by their own shareholders, and either keep this plant going for another four or five years and - or sell it to somebody who is prepared to do so."
AGL has been resisting demands from the government it either sell the power station or prolong its life in the interests of providing cheaper, more reliable power for a few years more.
Instead, it wants to decommission the power station and replace it with a clean energy plan.
Last month, the Australia Energy Market Operator said closing Liddell in 2022 in accordance with AGL's plans would leave an initial generation capacity shortfall of 850 megawatts, which could mean blackouts for about 200,000 homes in NSW.
But if all three stages of AGL's proposed post-Liddell plan were delivered "the resource gap will be eliminated".
Simultaneously, Mr Turnbull is under pressure from a growing group of backbenchers for the government to invest up to $4 billion to build a so-called clean coal power plant in Victoria, on the site of the old Hazelwood power station.
The government is refusing to do so, saying its proposed National Energy Guarantee provides ample scope for the private sector to build such a facility. The private sector has no desire to invest in coal.
Mr Turnbull's renewed pressure in AGL has momentarily eased some of the pressure from the backbench group known as the Monash Forum.
Monash Forum member Eric Abetz welcomed Mr Turnbull's intervention over Liddell and told Sky News that "hopefully it would" negate the need for a new coal plant. But he cautioned all options should be left on the table.
Alinta, a Chinese-owened generator, was encouraged by both the government and lobby group Manufacturing Australia.
In a statement, Mr Dimery said his company had "been approached about our interest in buying and running Liddell for five-to-seven years past AGL's current closure date of 2022".
"We are open to that proposal; it fits with our strong desire to maintain reliability and affordability for customers as we transition to a lower emissions energy sector," he said.
"Manufacturing Australia has raised concerns with us about the impact of the closure of the Northern and Hazelwood stations on energy prices. Businesses are anxious about the impact the closure of a bigger station like Liddell could have on them – and we are sympathetic to those concerns.
"While it is an aging facility, and we would need to do due diligence, we think it could survive a little longer in the marketplace.
"Of course we recognise the need to transition to a lower emissions energy sector, but it has to be pragmatic. We must be mindful of the impact taking large and affordable chunks of capacity out of the market could have, not only on businesses but on everyday Aussies who are finding it hard to meet the rising cost of energy.
"We are absolutely open to discussing it further with AGL."
Links
- Alinta Energy says it wants to buy AGL's Liddell coal-fired power station
- Second bidder enters race to buy Liddell coal-fired power station
- Keeping Liddell alive: Inside Alinta's bid for the power station
- Alinta Energy push for quick deal to buy Liddell power station
- Malcolm Turnbull's secret plan to save Liddell coal station New coal power 'twice as expensive': Morrison
- Big Power says 'No' to new coal plant
- PM must be wary of rebels with multiple causes
- Shell ramps up east coast gas push
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