Yallourn Power Station
Yallourn Power Station: a simple overview
Yallourn Power Station is in Yallourn, Victoria, Australia, in the Latrobe Valley beside the Latrobe River. It started as a group of six brown coal plants built from the 1920s to the 1960s. The plants were named A, B, C, D, E, and W. Most of the early plants have been demolished, and today only the Yallourn W plant remains in operation.
Yallourn W has about 1.45 gigawatts of generating capacity and four units. It is owned by EnergyAustralia and is a major source of electricity for Victoria. In 2024 it produced around 8.4 terawatt-hours of power, roughly 16% of Victoria’s electricity and about 4% of Australia’s national electricity market.
Next to the plant is a large open-cut coal mine, the biggest in Australia. The mine provides coal for the station, and coal moved to the plant used to travel by a narrow-gauge railway, later replaced by conveyors and then road transport. The mine and its infrastructure have needed changes over the years to keep supplying coal.
The town of Yallourn was built to house plant workers. In the 1970s–1980s parts of the town were demolished to expand the mine.
Ownership and history: A and B were older range-type plants, while C, D and E came later and provided most of Victoria’s power before Hazelwood opened in the 1960s. E was the first unitised station. A, B, C and D were demolished between the 1960s and 1990s.
Privatisation occurred in 1996, and EnergyAustralia now owns Yallourn W. The plant has faced outages and floods in recent years. In 2021, EnergyAustralia announced that Yallourn W would close in mid-2028, with plans to build a 350 MW battery by 2026 to help replace some capacity. A river diversion completed in 2007 helped extend coal supplies to the late 2020s, but the closure date was brought forward.
Environmental and heritage notes: The station burns coal and emits greenhouse gases (roughly 10–11 million tonnes per year). Engineers Australia recognizes the site as an Engineering Heritage National Landmark.
Overall, Yallourn W remains a major power source for Victoria, but its future is tied to ongoing energy transitions in Australia.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:17 (CET).