A worker transfer scheme that would give retrenched Hazelwood workers a new job is a step closer. Credit:Eddie Jim The union had wanted a staged close to ease the impact, Mr Williams said. "Some of the workers there would think that they've been left in the lurch, and also the Latrobe Valley community." Up to 250 workers will be needed to work at the site during its closure, Mr Keisser said. About half would be Engie employees, and the balance sub-contractors. It is not yet known how much it will cost to rehabilitate the mine and turn it into a lake, he said, although it will take about 12 years. "There will be a lot of work that will be required in order to transform our operation into a safe, stable lake, which will be given back to the community," he said.

A worker entering the Hazelwood plant on Thursday morning. Credit:Eddie Jim "I would love to provide a job for everybody but we don't have that. But we are doing our best to really help all our employees to transition respectfully through this period. "It's going to be difficult for these families. We need to help them to find a new future, so we have career counselling that has been planned, we have training that will be provided - up to $4000 per employee to help each employee to find a new future. Some workers have been seen boarding buses. Credit:Eddie Jim "We also have financial planning and superannuation planning done, in order to help them. And finally, we need also to help them humanly to go through this transition," he said.

He stressed that the company had not accelerated the decision to close Hazelwood in response to the mine fire of 2014. "Engie has taken the decision to reduce its operation in carbon plants, and is hence looking around the world to potentially sell some of them in order to redeploy all the capital that has been raised for the energy transition activities," he said. Mr Keisser said it would be good if "some of the younger people" at Hazelwood could be redeployed to the Loy Yang B power station near Traralgon, which Engie also owns. The closure of Hazelwood was described as "the end of an era" by federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, but he reassured Victorians that the energy market could cope. Hazelwood currently generates up to a quarter of Victoria's supply.

A report released on Thursday by the Australian Energy Market Operator indicated that black coal generation in NSW and gas-fired energy in South Australia would increase to compensate for the loss of Hazelwood. It said Victoria may have to import power from NSW and Tasmania during peak demand. The closure of Hazelwood is likely to drive up the value of the Loy Yang B station near Traralgon, which Engie is planning to sell. The valley's other three plants – Yallourn, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B – will continue to operate, though Loy Yang A is subject to industrial action that its owner, AGL, has warned could force it offline. Their long-term future cannot be guaranteed as companies and governments around the world move away from coal-powered generators.

But beyond the workers and their entitlements, the closure of a plant that employed 750 people is a bitter blow for an economically depressed area. "There's no sugar-coating" the Latrobe Valley's high unemployment figures, Premier Daniel Andrews said at a lunchtime press conference at Morwell's Centenary Rose Garden. "That just means we have to work harder." He condemned as "distasteful" reports that anyone was celebrating the closure of the plant. He acknowledged that a hike in electricity prices would put pressure on family budgets, but dismissed estimates of a 25 per cent increase as "wild, inaccurate." He said any price rise would be close to 4 per cent, or an average of 85 cents a week.

The Latrobe Valley is one of the most disadvantaged parts of Victoria, having struggled to recover since losing about 15,000 jobs when the electricity system was privatised in the 1990s. Unemployment is as high as 19.7 per cent in Morwell and 14.6 per cent in Moe. Mr Frydenberg and Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas recently met with senior Engie executives in Paris. Mr Frydenberg said Engie had assured the government it would meet all its entitlement obligations for Hazelwood workers. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pledged to work with the Victorian government to support workers who lose their jobs.

"This is a very, very tough time for the valley," he told reporters in Sydney. He said the federal government had established a ministerial task group "to provide the support the community needs to ensure there are jobs and opportunities". Loading Before news emerged of the closure Wendy Farmer, from community group Voices for the Valley, said it was a day of mixed feelings for herself and the community.

"The community have known for the last 10-20 years that this day would happen, we've just never known when. The last six months has really been a time of being left in limbo," she said.