South Australia's largest power station is no longer operating at full capacity and is coming to the end of its life, a senate inquiry has heard.
The owners of Torrens Island Power Station say they are looking at ways to replace the station, but high gas prices make new investment difficult, raising fears for the state's energy future.
AGL Energy's wholesale markets general manager Richard Wrightson on Tuesday told the senate committee the station has not run at full capacity for more than a year and that it never would again.
"(It) is a very old station and its reliability is poor because it's very much getting to the end of life," he told the committee.
"The last time we ran eight units, I think, was in January 2016.
"We did try and get the eight units on for this summer period and we've had problems with that asset just because of age.
"That's not going to change no matter how much money gets thrown at it because it is a 50-year-old plant."
The energy company provides power to just under half of South Australia's households, the committee heard.
AGL's group operations executive general manager Douglas Jackson told the committee they were assessing ways to replace the station.
"We are looking at it on a year-by-year basis making decisions but we are in the very real near term evaluating what work needs to be done to keep it running."
Senator Nick Xenophon likened the station to a person being on "life support or close to it".
During the inquiry, AGL Energy revealed it supported an emissions intensity trading scheme.
Asked if such a scheme would motivate AGL Energy to build a new SA station, Mr Wrightson said it would depend on solid bipartisan support across all parties.
"If you want to drive a 30- or 40-year investment, you need bipartisanship," he said.
Mr Wrightson predicted a shortfall in gas for the coming winter, and that access was critical for the state's short- and long-term future.
"AGL would love to build a new power station to replace Torrens ... but if you can't access gas, it's not a feasible opportunity and that's why you've got no new power stations being announced in SA," he said.
The inquiry follows heatwave conditions across SA in February that resulted in blackouts at 90,000 properties as authorities scrambled to reduce load on the electricity network.
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