NSW fails to sell Cobbora coal mine

Spanish Market: Coal
23/12/14

Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state government has failed to attract bidders to fund and develop its 12mn t/yr Cobbora thermal coal project amid current weak coal prices.

The NSW government had called for expressions of interest for those interested in acquiring the project and both times the deadline has passed without any viable bids being submitted. NSW treasurer Andrew Constance will now commission further analysis of the outlook for coal prices before deciding what to do next about the 140mn t resource.

Thermal coal prices have fallen from a high of $137/t fob Newcastle for 6,000 kcal/kg at the start of 2011 to its last assessment at $63.86/t. These low prices have made existing Australian coal mines marginal and new developments less economic, although the weaker Australian dollar is starting to improve margins for Australian coal mining firms.

The development of Coborra is expected to cost around A$1.5bn ($1.2bn). The project is located to the west of NSW's Hunter valley coal-producing region and will use existing rail infrastructure to haul coal to power stations in the region and to the export port of Newcastle.

The NSW government had agreed in 2010 to fund and develop Cobbora itself as part of a deal struck when it privatised the Eraring power plant. But it found that the project could leave the state A$1.5bn out of pocket and instead agreed to pay A$300mn to Eraring's new owner Origin Energy to compensate it for cancelled coal contracts. The original deal with Origin included the supply of up 5mn t/yr of coal from Cobbora from the 2014-15 fiscal year to 2031-32.

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21/04/26

Solar surge halts fossil generation rise: Ember

Singapore, 21 April (Argus) — Clean power met all power demand growth in 2025, keeping fossil fuel generation flat, according to a report from think-tank Ember released today. Global electricity demand grew by 2.8pc on the year to 31,779TWh in 2025, according to Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026 . Total clean generation rose by 887TWh, slightly exceeding the demand growth of 849TWh. Because of this, fossil generation edged down by 0.2pc, marking the fifth year in this century without growth in fossil electricity. Solar power alone met 75pc of the increase in electricity demand. Global solar generation rose by 30pc on the year to 2,778TWh in 2025, with this being the highest growth rate in eight years. Solar and wind combined met 99pc of electricity demand growth. Renewables made up 34pc of global electricity generation in 2025 at 10,730TWh, surpassing coal's share of 33pc for the first time in 100 years. Global coal-powered generation fell by 0.6pc to 10,476TWh, marking the first drop since 2020, and the first time that coal has fallen to less than a third of the world's power generation. The fall in fossil fuel generation was driven by decreases in China and India. This also marks the first time this century that fossil generation fell in both China and India, according to the report. China led the solar build-out, accounting for more than half of the increase in both solar capacity and solar generation. Fossil generation in the country fell by 56TWh, or 0.9pc, with rapid clean power expansion meeting all demand growth. In India, fossil generation fell by 52TWh, or 3.3pc, because of record increases in solar and wind generation, strong hydropower output and slower demand growth. Higher battery deployment is also a factor in solar growth. Battery costs fell by about 45pc in 2025, while deployment grew by 46pc to about 250GWh, according to Ember estimates. This meant that enough battery capacity was installed globally to shift 14pc of new solar generation in 2025 from midday to other hours of the day. Countries like Chile and Australia are already installing enough grid-scale batteries to shift large shares of solar generation beyond daylight hours, demonstrating how storage can help to address system flexibility needs and unlock a higher share of solar in the power mix, the report said. Gas-fired generation rose by 0.5pc to 6,919TWh in 2025. Nuclear power rose by 1.3pc to 2,812TWh, while hydropower remained largely steady on the year at 4,436TWh. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Mideast fuel risks likely to boost Japan’s nuclear push

21/04/26

Mideast fuel risks likely to boost Japan’s nuclear push

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Kazakhstan, Mongolia to boost coal co-operation

20/04/26

Kazakhstan, Mongolia to boost coal co-operation

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Indonesia raises HBA coal prices across all grades

16/04/26

Indonesia raises HBA coal prices across all grades

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Japan's chemicals sector likely to reduce coal demand

15/04/26

Japan's chemicals sector likely to reduce coal demand

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NSW fails to sell Cobbora coal mine

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