“While Alcoa’s Geelong smelter closed on August 1, Anglesea residents and environmental activists have been calling for the coal mine and power plant – which serviced the smelter – to also be shut down,”The Age reported yesterday.

“Instead, Alcoa is seeking to sell the mine and power station, and has said it has received several expressions of interest for the plant.”

The power station previously supplied about 41% of the power used by the now-closed smelter.

While brown coal is known for its air pollution issues, the Anglesea coal is considered better than that burnt at Victoria’s La Trobe Valley power hub.

“Using this high quality brown coal, with a heat value of just over 15,000 joules per gram, it takes about one tonne of Anglesea coal to produce 1.3 megawatt hours of power, compared to around two tonnes of coal that it takes to generate the same power in the La Trobe Valley area,” Alcoa says on its website.