AGL chief operating officer Markus Broghof said the company was engaged in the early planning stages to"ensure the efficient operation of the Bayswater power station after the scheduled closure of Liddell".

AGL lodged plans last week to build 500 megawatts of batteries storage at Liddell and it has plans double that volume across the country.

Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood said planning to separate Liddell from Bayswater"would be logical"for AGL and"planning to do so is perfectly consistent with AGL's intention of closing Liddell".

Australian National University's Centre for Climate and Energy Policy director Frank Jotzo said:"AGL have never wavered in their plans to close down Liddell,but they were under immense pressure from the government to do so."

The Australian Energy Market Operator has found that planned new generation projects would make up the shortfall created by the Liddell's closure.

"We are seeing continuous large-scale addition of renewable energy to the grid and increasingly storage with large battery projects in the pipelines,and there is also gas generation capacity available,"Mr Jotzo said.

On Thursday,the National Farmers Federation announced a new policy with the agriculture sector backing a target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,which drew an angry rebuke from the Nationals party leadership.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack,when asked if the policy showed the Nationals were out of touch with regional voters,said the party would continue to"fight for the issues important to them — including our policies to push down power prices".

"Regional Australians voted to send Nationals'MP back to Canberra in every single seat we held before that poll,” Mr McCormack told Australian Community Media.

Nationals MP for Maranoa and Agriculture Minister David Littleproud criticised NFF for"blindly setting a course"for net zero without a strategy,which he said risked"serious implications not just on farmers but the entire nation".