Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni in court over coal-fired power explosion

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni will face court next Thursday over a 2021 explosion and shutdown of one of Queensland’s largest power stations,

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni. Picture: David Clark

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni will face court next Thursday over a 2021 explosion and shutdown of one of Queensland’s largest power stations, which cut power across the state and led to a spike in prices.

Two days after the official state election campaign begins, Mr de Brenni will be cross-examined over alleged mismanagement and poor maintenance at the Callide C generator in central Queensland.

The explosion at Callide – operated and half-owned by the state government’s CS Energy – cut power to 500,000 homes and sent wholesale prices soaring across the national grid.

A report by forensic engineer Sean Brady into the explosion showed that a 2019 review found a maintenance backlog exceeded approved limits and had raised the risks of “increased asset failures”.

The public hearings will put the state government’s running of Callide on the election agenda. The state opposition has accused the Palaszczuk-Miles government of allowing the power station to be run down and that Mr de Brenni has misled the public over problems at the facility ahead of the explosion.

CS Energy’s current chief executive, Darren Busine, and its former chairman, Jim Soorley, have also been called to face examination by a special purpose administrator over the management of the facility.

CS Energy chief executive Darren Busine. Picture: Liam Kidston

FTI Consulting’s John Park was appointed this year by the Federal Court as a special purpose administrator with a brief to investigate the causes of the explosion.

Czech company Sev.en, which was an investor with the state government in the collapsed joint venture that owned the plant, had successfully sought the appointment of the special purpose administrator to replace the previous administrators over claims not enough was being done to investigate potential failings of CS Energy in running the facility. Mr de Brenni has repeatedly told parliament that all requirement maintenance had been completed ahead of the explosion. Those statements were undermined by the release of a Dr Brady’s report revealing there had been a maintenance backlog.

The report also questioned the level of operational expertise of the board of CS Energy, headed by Mr Soorley – a former Labor lord mayor of Brisbane – who was appointed by Annastacia Palaszczuk after she won power in 2015.

In June, Mr de Brenni launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Soorley, accusing him of misleading him about maintenance backlogs.

Mr de Brenni said the advice he gave to parliament and Queenslanders, that maintenance had been sufficient, was based solely on what he had been told by CS Energy.

“What I was told was that all of their statutory and other maintenance that was required to be done was done,” he said.

“The CEO (then Andrew Bills) and the chair told me that.

“They told me that in writing. I looked (them) in the eye multiple times and asked them to confirm that with me unequivocally.”

Callide Power Stations B & C.

Mr Soorley has since refused to comment.

It’s expected Mr de Brenni will be questioned about what he knew when, and whether the government provided sufficient funding for maintenance.