Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg met with his French counterpart Segolene Royal on Thursday to discuss the imminent closure of the ageing Latrobe Valley brown-coal-fired plant.

The meeting comes after confirmation from Hazelwood's majority owner, French energy giant Engie, that the company was unlikely to find a buyer for the plant, meaning it will be shut down entirely.

That followed revelations by Fairfax Media that Hazelwood is likely to shut down permanently as early as next April, potentially costing the Latrobe Valley up to 1000 jobs.

Engie is part owned by the French Government.

Ms Royal has previously signalled the company's intension to "disengage" from the Australian plant as part of an exit plan from coal-fired power.

Mr Frydenberg also met this week with Engie chief executive Isabelle Kocher, who this week told reporters that finding a buyer for Hazelwood was unlikely.

"We are reviewing all the coal-fired power plants in our portfolio one by one," Ms Kocher said.

"There are some sites for which we will find buyers, but it does not look like Hazelwood is heading that way."

Publicly,  Engie is insisting that no formal decision on the plants future has been made, although energy analysts believe the plant's closure is now all but certain.

Speaking from Paris, Mr Frydenberg told Fairfax Media on Thursday that the Federal Government was "very conscious" about the "heightened speculation" about the plant's future.

"We'll respond in the event the company makes a formal decision," he said.