* NPAT A$218 mln vs A$570
* Consumer electricity volumes down 4.4 pct
* Company is transitioning into renewable energy company (Adds CEO quotes, shares)
By Byron Kaye
SYDNEY, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Australia's AGL Energy Ltd AGL.AX said annual net profit slumped 62 percent after it wrote down the value of gas production assets, as the country's No. 2 energy retailer re-sets its priorities on an increasingly green-friendly market.
Net profit for the Sydney-based gas and electricity supplier was A$218 million ($159.51 million) for the year to June 30, down from A$570 million the previous year. The company said a month ago that it would make A$603 million in writedowns on coal-seam gas projects.
Under new Chief Executive Officer Andrew Vesey, AGL is trying to adapt to a market that is increasingly adopting renewable energy, a shift from its standing as the biggest carbon polluter in one of the world's biggest carbon polluting countries per capita.
"It's all about the transition," Vesey said in a telephone interview when asked about AGL's plans to end its reliance on coal-fired power by 2050.
"Our concerns are also the 1,500 people we have working in our coal plants (but) in order to make room for private investment, you need to clear out some of these older plants.
"If you don't, you rely on a higher level of government incentives and that's quite a risky place for private capital to go."
In May, the company which supplies power to 3.8 million Australians said it would be the country's first energy firm to sell storage batteries, a response to a market which more than a million homes have rooftop solar systems.
AGL is also selling A$1 billion of assets including a A$500 million half-stake in the country's largest wind farm. Vesey said the sale did not spell the company's exit from wind energy.
AGL reported electricity sales volume fell 4.4 percent while rooftop solar revenue grew 23 percent, but Vesey dismissed suggestions that increasing use of rooftop solar would mean the end of the electricity grid.
"We will see more and more penetration of these distributed technologies because prices will continue to go down," he said.
"But this question of the death spiral, I don't believe that at all."
Not counting one-off items, underlying profit was A$630 million, up from A$570 million the previous year and within the company's guidance.
AGL shares were flat while the broader market fell 0.4 percent. The shares have risen by a quarter so far in 2015, outpacing the broader market.
($1 = 1.3667 Australian dollars) (Editing by Stephen Coates)