Use of brown coal in Victoria

The Latrobe Valley's brown coal is used to feed mine-mouth power generation facilities to service the domestic power market. Whilst the Latrobe Valley’s brown coal mines have provided the feedstock to generate much of the state’s electricity for the past century, Victoria’s energy transition is underway as we move to renewable energy.

Statement on future uses of brown coal

In July 2017 the Victorian Government released its Statement on Future Uses of Brown Coal.  The Coal Statement was intended to provide industry and the community with certainty about the future uses of brown coal in a low emissions context and consistent with the Victorian Government's climate change commitments.

Brown coal has traditionally been used for power generation, however there is investor interest in using Victoria's brown coal for other products such as hydrogen, carbon fibres, graphenes and fertiliser for international and domestic markets.

Since 2017 there have been significant shifts in the local and global context. The Victorian Government is taking action to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 and transition Victoria’s energy sector to 100 per cent renewables.

Page last updated: 20 Dec 2023