Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 42 2021

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KEPCO aims to appeal against

Bylong Valley coal rulling in NSW

AUSTRALIA SOUTH Korean utilities company KEPCO are still seeking approval for this coal mine,
will seek leave to appeal against the refusal of its which would generate over 200mn tonnes of
Bylong Valley coal project in the High Court. greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions,” she said.
The underground and open-cast operation, According to KEPCO, the proposed coalm-
55 km north-east of Mudgee, proposes to extract ine would be a combination of open-cast and
6.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of coal for 25 years, underground operations and would operate for
and inject around A$290mn ($217mn) into the a total of 25 years, extracting 6.5mn tpy of coal.
state economy. The Bylong Valley Protection Alliance was
“KEPCO believes that the NSW Court of established by locals to combat the mine’s con-
Appeal made errors in its decision and has filed a struction and they’ve had success. Despite
special leave application to the High Court seek- KEPCO owning nearly half the valley’s land, the
ing proper legal interpretation,” the company mine itself has been knocked back three times
said in a statement. in the last three years by courts and the Inde-
The project was refused by the Independent pendent Planning Commission (IPC), the most
Planning Commission in 2019, and subsequent recent in September.
appeals in the Land and Environment Court, KEPCO’s stubbornness in Australia contrasts
and Court of Appeal, were dismissed. with South Korean steelmaker POSCO, which
The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) has abandoned its proposed Hume coal project
confirmed it would be fighting the appeal on in NSW.
behalf of the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance In September, POSCO said it had put the land
in the High Court. for its failed 3mn tpy Hume coal project in the
“We’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with the NSW Southern Highlands and associated rail
community in the Bylong Valley for many, many link to Port Kembla up for sale, Argus reported.
years and we’re very disappointed that KEPCO After more than a decade of trying to gain
has chosen to take the Bylong community back approval for the mine, which was designed to
to court,” EDO managing lawyer Rana Koroglu produce 39mn tonnes of coking coal and ther-
said. mal coal over a 19-year mine life, POSCO has
Koroglu said it was “quite astounding” for admitted defeat and put the land associated with
KEPCO, which is majority owned by the South the coal project up for sale.
Korean government, to be pursuing its coal pro- It expects to recoup around A$60mn
ject on the eve of the COP26 climate summit in ($40mn), which will go towards paying back the
Glasgow. more than A$200mn it has spent on the project
“At the same time [as going to Glasgow] they over the past ten years.™

Week 42 20•October•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9