He said the $300 million, 300-megawatt plant would help ensure the lights stay on for NSW consumers.
Last year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave the private sector until April 30 to detail investment plans to replace the generation gap left, or the government would step in through its company Snowy Hydro.
There are two private players still in the mix, along with the project proposed by Snowy Hydro.
Aside from EnergyAustralia, Andrew Forrest has proposed a 635MW gas-hydrogen peaker plant through his private company Squadron Energy at Port Kembla, although that plant has still to get planning approval.
Sources said all the optimism surrounded the EnergyAustralia proposal, given the longer time-line needed before Squadron could commit to building at Port Kembla. As of Thursday, EnergyAustralia was locked in talks with the NSW government.
The state government complicated matters by legislating a plan to underwrite large-scale renewable energy projects, creating fears a private player would be rendered uncompetitive.
The NSW plan already caused AGL to indefinitely postpone a long-planned 250MW gas peaking plant at Tomago, north of Newcastle.
But Snowy Hydro chief executive Paul Broad said he saw a strong business case for a new gas plant, and said the companys board has already given in-principle approval to build it at Kurri Kurri, depending on the federal governments decision.
We are absolutely ready to roll if the government makes that decision, Mr Broad said, adding Snowy is already a long way down the track with the environmental impact statement and planning approvals.
The economics are very good for us. Its a peaker and fits in with our portfolio of peaker plants to firm up the market. The need for more dispatchable capacity in the market is clear to everybody.
The project could be 350MW or 650MW depending on the market needs, Mr Broad said, adding Snowy has already done extensive preparatory work to source needed equipment to be able to move quickly.
The news of the retirement of Ms Tanna, who concluded a term on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia in March, comes just a week after the shock exit of AGL Energy CEO Brett Redman, who suddenly resigned in the midst of planning for a demerger to help the giant coal power producer adapt to the rapidly transforming energy market.
Late last week also saw the resignation of Richard Van Breda as CEO of Queenslands Stanwell Corporation just days after he made public comments about steps to transition away from coal-fired power.
Mr Collette, who has led EnergyAustralias customer, energy, trading and development teams, said he was looking forward to bringing to fruition recent initiatives, including the countrys first four-hour, 350 MW battery in Victoria. That project was committed to as part of EnergyAustralias deal with the Victorian government to bring forward the scheduled closure of its Yallourn coal-fired power station by four years to 2028.
The change in leadership comes as EnergyAustralia and other major coal and gas power suppliers have been hit by a sharp drop in wholesale power prices and by the partial re-regulation of retail electricity prices.
CLP in February warned of challenging market conditions for EnergyAustralia, which suffered a drop in underlying operational profits in 2020.