Queensland election 2017: Coal-fired power station report to embarrass Government

THE Labor Government rejected building a coal-fired power station in North Queensland despite a secret government report saying it could provide secure power for the cyclone-ravaged region, reduce emissions and cut energy wastage.

THE Labor Government rejected building a coal-fired power station in North Queensland despite a secret government report saying it could provide secure power for the cyclone-ravaged region, reduce emissions and cut energy wastage.

Environment Minister Steven Miles this morning tried to dismiss the report as one of “lots of reports that get commissioned” and repeated the line it would only be viable if wholesale power prices remained high for the next 40 years.

He said the government department commissioned the report and it had not been passed on to ministers or gone to cabinet.

He said while they have now seen the report, the government would not be acting on it.

That is despite the report commissioned by the Department of Energy and Water Supply finding an ultra super critical power station would be viable, reduce emissions and lower energy transmission loss.

“This report was provided to the energy department as I understand it and it was received by the Director-General but not provided to the minister,” Mr Miles said in Noosa launching a koala preservation scheme.

“The report itself says the only way a new coal fired generator like this one would be viable is if you kept wholesale power prices high for the next 40 years.

“The LNP’s plan is contingent on high power prices for the next 40 years. We are not going to sign Queensland up for that. Tim Nicholls should not either.

“Many consultant reports are produced to departments that never reach ministers. This has been provided to the department, it says a whole range of different things but this government is focused on the energy of the future, the cheap energy of the future and that is renewables.

“Lots of reports get commissioned. The headline, now that we have seen this report, the only way a coal fired generator like Tim Nicholls wants to build viable is to keep power prices high for the next 40 years.

“It wouldn’t do anything for seven years, that would be how long it would take to build it.”

He said instead renewables would provide energy security for the north of the state.

EARLIER: OPPOSITION leader Tim Nicholls says a new coal-fired power station for North Queensland would deliver more reliable and cheaper electricity, despite claims from the Premier a secret report states it would put prices up for 40 years.

A leaked Department of Energy and Water Supply report, commissioned by the Palaszczuk Government, found the LNP’s plan for the ultra super critical power station would be viable, reduce emissions and lower energy transmission loss.

Mr Nicholls rejected Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comment that it would increase prices for 40 years.

He said power production was currently at $100 a megawatt hour, at half that price, but the USC station could do it for half the cost.

“Which is a price that hasn’t been seen in Queensland for four years,” he said.

“The project would be viable and would deliver reliable and cheaper base load power than we are currently seeing at the moment.

“The report found the North risks effectively being stranded because it’s stuck to a single line.”

Earlier, Ms Palaszczuk confirmed she knew about the departmental report into the viability of new coal-fired power station for North Queensland but dismissed claims it shows one should be built.

“There are hundreds of reports that get commissioned all the time. Yes I am aware of the report,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“It’s not viable. Go and have a look at the report.

“The report is very clear. It says a new coal-fired power station would keep electricity bills high for 40 years. It’s in black and white, so don’t go and selectively pick.

‘It would take seven years to build a new coal-fired power station.

“We already have a young energy fleet of coal-fired power stations here that are providing not just Queensland with the energy needs ... but also being exported down to other states.

“I think it’s very clear that Queensland does not need a new coal-fired power station.”

A secret report revealed a coal-fired power station would secure the north’s power supply.

She refused to say if she commissioned it despite being asked three times.

But Ms Palaszczuk denied the government tried to cover it up.

“It has been released.”

OVERNIGHT: A new north Queensland coal-fired power station would cut emissions, reduce costly energy transmission loss and secure the region’s supply during extreme weather events, according to a secret report.

The report was never publicly released. It was commissioned by the State Government and finalised in February, after the LNP flagged support for the power station.

The emergence of the report will embarrass Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose campaign has been blown off course by Adani protesters and her inability to remember how much debt her Government had paid down with dividends.

Labor candidates throughout the region are campaigning against the popular power station proposal, while attempting to sell the Government’s 50 per cent renewable energy target.

Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls last night accused Ms Palaszczuk of attempting to deceive Queenslanders.

He said Labor was saying one thing about the power station proposal while hiding a report that said the opposite.

“The LNP will build with the private sector a high-efficiency, low-emissions coal-fired power station in north Queensland to increase energy security and lower wholesale electricity prices,” Mr Nicholls said.

LNP leader Tim Nicholls promised to build a coal-fired power station in north Queensland.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk and Labor have been caught out misleading Queenslanders about the benefits of a high-efficiency, low-emissions coal-fired power station in north Queensland.”

According to the report, there were “significant losses” transporting energy from central Queensland to the north, which drove up household and business prices.

“It is also possible that a power station in north Queensland will delay future transmission investment by preventing the long-distance electricity needing to be imported from central Queensland to north Queensland,” the report said.

The report said a north Queensland power station would be able to stock pile coal, reducing the reliance on transmission lines that were susceptible to “weather, industrial and social disruptions”.

“The installation of an additional large thermal plant will also provide contingent security, meaning that a deeper pool of backup generation is available in the instance that renewable power supply fluctuates, that other generators fail, that the transmission grid is disrupted or if consumption demand is elevated in hot weather,” it said.

The report said an ultra super critical station, which produces 38 per cent more electricity with the same amount of coal, could cut Queensland’s emissions by 10 per cent if it displaced one of the state’s older plants.

One Nation has backed a new coal-fired station while Katter’s Australian Party has questioned the time it would take to construct and called for a raft of measures to cut power prices.

A Galaxy poll earlier this year found half of Queenslanders backed a new station in the north, including 65 per cent of LNP supporters and 41 per cent of Labor voters.

Originally published as Queensland election 2017: Coal-fired power station report to embarrass Government