The Liddell Power Station, which has supplied electricity to New South Wales (NSW) for more than 50 years, will retire this week. 

The remaining three turbines at the coal-fired plant will spin for the last time, with the final generator due to shut on Friday. However, the plant had already ceased to be a significant source of electricity production in the state for the last 18 months due to the shutdown of the first of Liddell's four generators last year. 

In fact, Liddell has been producing only around 600 MW into the markets, even though it was registered to produce 1,500 MW. 

There are concerns that the energy grid in NSW will fall short of power, but it seems that the state is ready for the shutdown, as it has had plenty of time to prepare for a smooth transition. 

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which ordered generators to produce power amid forecast shortages last year, seems unconcerned about Liddell's closure. 

“The notification of Liddell's retirement has allowed the market to respond, with NSW forecast to meet reliability measures until at least 2025,” said AEMO's executive general manager of system design, Merryn York. 

However, the market operator is more worried about the slated 2025 closure of the Eraring Power Station, which is Australia's largest coal-fired plant based at Lake Macquarie. 

To secure energy supply, NSW Premier Chris Minns says he is open to the government buying the plant, which Origin Energy plans to shut seven years early. 

NSW has the capacity to generate 19,890 MW, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), and the state should avoid blackouts if no outages occur during winter's peak, says Professor Bruce Mountain, an energy economist at Victoria University. 

Prof Mountain added that there is still plenty of NSW coal generation capacity, which has not been highly used. 

Furthermore, the shutdown of Liddell is unlikely to push up power bills, as it was not one of the most expensive generators, and its production can be made up by running existing generators harder, he said. 

Additionally, renewable energy capacity is increasing in the state, making market volatility less likely, according to Simon Wright, a sustainability researcher at the University of Technology Sydney.