Power plant sale 'incompetent or worse'

The NSW government is facing questions about how a power station, sold by the state for $1 million in 2015, has been revalued at $739 million two years later.

Vales Point power station

The NSW government is facing questions about how a state owned power station was sold for just $1m. (AAP)

The sale of a state-owned power station for $1 million that went on to skyrocket in value in private hands smells of government incompetence or "something worse", the NSW Opposition leader says.

The Vales Point power station was sold by the Baird government in November 2015 for $1 million but has now been revalued at $739 million by Sunset Power International.

NSW Labor leader Luke Foley on Tuesday accused the government of fleecing taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars.

"You've got to assume it's incompetence on a grand scale from Ms Berejiklian and her colleagues, or something worse," Mr Foley told reporters.

"You couldn't find a privation deal more contrary to the public interest."

However, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who was treasurer at the time of the sale, stood by the transaction, saying its benefits could not be quantified in cash returns.

"I am confident that every decision we've taken is in the taxpayers' best interest and we've reduced debt in all transactions," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday.

"You have to look at how it's taken debt away from government which allows us to invest in hospitals and schools."

In 2015 Ms Berejiklian said the plant had been sold above its retention value, with the state no longer exposed to "significant liabilities such as costs associated with decommissioning".

Sunset Power International, which trades as Delta Electricity, on Tuesday declined to comment.


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Source: AAP



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