SUMMARY

The Australian state is aiming to get 80% of energy from renewable sources by 2035.

By Shardul Sharma

The Queensland government on September 28 announced a plan to invest A$62bn ($39.4bn) in the energy system right up to 2035.

By 2032, Queensland’s 70% energy supply will come from renewables, and by 2035 the state will have no regular reliance on coal and be at 80% renewable energy, the government said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state will have a ‘super grid’ that will connect solar, wind, battery and hydrogen generators.

“The super grid brings together all of the elements in the electricity system with the poles and wires that provide Queenslanders with clean, reliable and affordable power for generations,” Palaszczuk said. “That super grid delivers around 1,500 km of transmission lines from Brisbane up to North Queensland and out west to Hughenden.”

She said that the super grid will open up new renewable energy zones across Queensland and support the decarbonisation of metals processing in central Queensland. “It comes with A$11bn of investment in total to 2035.” These investments in the super grid will support 22 GW of new wind and solar power. 

The state has also planned two new pumped hydros plants that will be at Pioneer/Burdekin and Borumba Dam by 2035. Queensland’s existing coal-fired power stations will progressively become clean energy hubs from 2027, the premier said.

Infrastructure at the clean energy hubs will include continued use of large spinning turbines at the power stations to provide strength for the energy system to take more renewables; grid scale batteries; gas and then later hydrogen power stations; and maintenance hubs for nearby government-owned renewable wind and solar farms.

Palaszczuk said in 2027 there will be a new gas to hydrogen power station at Kogan Creek and additional battery storage; and more wind and solar generation. “This will provide enough power to start a shift to seasonal operation,” she said.

A quarter of generation units will then be converted when Borumba pumped hydro comes online expected in 2030.

Australia peak oil and gas body Appea said the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan confirmed a variety of roles for natural gas – firming renewables, powering manufacturing and mining, boosting hydrogen production and underpinning east coast energy security.

Appea Queensland director Matthew Paull said the plan complements the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan and is another example of Queensland’s pragmatism, realism, and understanding of how to secure economic benefits and minimise disruption on the pathway to net zero.