NSW Commission Approves Hunter Valley Operations to Continue Until 2045

The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (NSWIPC) has approved an extension of the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coal mining complex.

The Commission has approved two applications, for the HVO North and HVO South open-cut mines. HVO North can now operate until 2045, and HVO South until 2042. The mine is a joint venture between Yancoal, which owns 51 percent, and Glencore, with 49 percent.

Together, the mines can produce up to 26 million tonnes of raw coal annually, with total production over the project’s life expected to reach about 429 million tonnes. The northern mine will expand by about 903 hectares, while the southern mine will shrink by around 267 hectares.

The workforce is expected to peak at 1,407 full-time-equivalent jobs in 2034. The Commission also cited an estimated benefit to NSW of about $5.69 billion (US$3.95 billion) in net present value, a measure of future gains in today’s money (pdf).

A three-member panel considered 10,576 written submissions and 129 verbal ones. An Epoch Times count of submissions listed on the Commission’s website found about 4,250 objections and 6,300 in support.

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Requirements

The Commission accepted that the project would produce about 809 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. About 98 percent would come from burning the coal overseas, known as Scope 3 emissions.

It accepted the emissions would add to climate change, but said the jobs and economic benefits outweighed that, and approval would give “economic stability for the Hunter region.”

HVO must publish a greenhouse gas mitigation plan within six months and purchase carbon offsets to fund emissions reductions elsewhere, in addition to meeting requirements under the federal Safeguard Mechanism, which sets emissions limits for large industrial facilities.

It must also maximise its use of renewable energy within four years.

Within three months, HVO must publish a plan showing how it limits exports to “jurisdictions with greenhouse gas emissions policies consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.” And within 12 months, it must publish a closure plan developed with local councils and the community.

The projects still need approval under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The HVO decision follows another NSW mine extension approved by the NSWIPC earlier this year. In April, the Commission allowed the Chain Valley and Mannering mines to operate until the end of 2029, shortly before NSW’s next major emissions target takes effect.

The decision came despite the Net Zero Commission—the state body that tracks progress on emissions targets—having found that continued extensions or expansions of coal mines were inconsistent with the state’s legislated emissions-reduction targets.

The Independent Planning Commission considered a shorter approval period but rejected it, saying that emissions would be “appropriately managed through the existing regulatory systems.”

HVO operators said they would engage with regulators make “big changes to the project’s design to ensure alignment with both NSW and Federal government legislative guidelines, environmental standards and climate change policies.”

HVO said its economic contribution had exceeded $6.9 billion over the past four years, while its operations currently supported 1,500 direct jobs.

A ‘Disappointing’ Decision: IEEFA

Jonathan Taubner, lead analyst for Australian coal at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), told The Epoch Times the decision was “disappointing.”

He said the Commission acknowledged key issues raised by IEEFA but had nonetheless approved the project with “minimal conditions.”

Taubner noted the Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023 does not allow offsets from outside NSW to reduce the state’s net emissions.

“Prioritising out-of-date guidelines [the NSW guidelines for large emitters] over the binding Climate Change Act is disappointing,” he said.

The analyst added that the export condition does not require importing countries to have implemented policies to meet the Paris targets and is therefore unlikely to have any meaningful impact on reducing Scope 3 emissions.

In addition, Taubner said HVO’s economic case was “not compelling.”

He said the Commission estimated the global cost of the mines’ direct emissions at more than $2.2 billion, but NSW’s share was reduced to $3.8 million based on its proportion of the global population.

The Commission put the cost to NSW of some Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the mines and their electricity use at $3.8 million, while estimating the cost of Scope 3 emissions at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Taubner also called the closure plan condition “a positive step,” but said it should have been completed before the approval was granted.