Townsville Enterprise urges state to back NQ in energy plan

The region’s peak economic development organisation is urging the state government to back renewable energy with a detailed plan for North Queensland.

The region’s peak economic development organisation is urging the Labor state government to back its rhetoric on renewable energy with a detailed plan for North Queensland.

Townsville Enterprise was commenting on the expected release of a 10-year Energy Plan on Wednesday which will set out how Queensland will transition to renewable energy and invest into new energy sources like hydrogen and ammonia.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced last year at an energy jobs forum in Townsville she had commissioned Energy Minister Mick de Brenni to develop the energy plan.

The government announced its support for developments including the CopperString 2.0 transmission line, the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct at Townsville to manufacture battery metals and plans by Sun Metals to manufacture hydrogen.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith said the region now needed to know how these projects would be supported.

“We know from study after study that the renewable energy resources we have are the best in Australia. What we are looking for in that plan is the connecting of the dots — the transmission lines, the investment in batteries and the investment in port infrastructure for hydrogen exports,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith with Windlab Project Manager Martin Vries in Hughenden.

She said North Queensland at present drew much of its energy via power stations and transmission lines from Gladstone.

“Ultimately this has to change because we are going to be producing the green energy and sending it south or out of the port,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.

“What we don’t have is the capacity in our transmission lines or at the port to export and to use that power further south.”

She said Townsville Enterprise wanted the North West Minerals Province integrated into the energy grid to enable more mines to be developed, more critical minerals to be mined and for batteries to be produced in Townsville.

Ms Brumme-Smith said Townsville Enterprise would look to the plan to provide the road map for infrastructure development in North Queensland.

“This plan, while it will be in draft form, is going to be really, really telling in how the government will see our region develop,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk has flagged she will make “the biggest announcement in the energy and climate change space”.

That is expected to include how the government will address climate change with its 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 as well as a commitment for zero net emissions by 2050 with an interim target of 30 per cent by 2030.

Originally published as Townsville Enterprise urges state to back NQ in energy plan