Queensland to wind back coal by 2035 in ‘revolutionary’ energy plan

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has unveiled what she described as a “revolutionary” energy plan pitched to end coal-power reliance in Australia’s most dependent state by 2035, and deliver the world’s largest pumped hydro storage site near Mackay.

The expected $62 billion public and private investment will also include funding for a charter and jobs security guarantee for state-run power workers, ensuring they have the opportunity to continue their careers with publicly owned energy businesses.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at a wind farm press conference in the South Burnett on Monday.Credit: Pool/AAP

“I honestly believe it will be one of our proudest legacies in the decades to come,” Palaszczuk said during her annual state of the state speech in Brisbane on Wednesday, at which she revealed details of the 10-year plan.

“We are facing a climate emergency. We are facing a period that’s extraordinary in all of our lifetimes ... but we need to do more – much, much more – than understand the effects of climate change. We need to do much more than talk about it.”

Key elements of the plan include at least 25 gigawatts of new and existing renewable energy, including stage one of what was described as the “largest pumped hydro energy storage in the world” – west of Mackay in central Queensland – by 2032, and another pumped hydroelectricity plant at Borumba Dam on the Sunshine Coast.

The state’s eight coal-fired power stations will be transitioned to “clean energy hubs” between 2027 and 2035 – up to a decade earlier than expected – while a new “gas to hydrogen” station will be built at Kogan Creek.

This process will be aided by a charter for coal power workers and a jobs security guarantee – signed by the government, state-owned energy companies and unions on Wednesday – to provide opportunities for continued work and training.

The government will also introduce legislation this year to enact an 80 per cent renewable energy target by 2035. There will be additional emission reduction targets for the electricity sector of 50 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030, and 90 per cent by 2035-36.

However, there will be no change to the broader government target of 30 per cent by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.

Palaszczuk told reporters she expected about half of the plan’s price tag would come from government, which will be factored into borrowings and outlined in modelling, also expected to be released.

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni told a press conference after the speech that “the cost of not acting on climate change is incredibly catastrophic”.

Palaszczuk said she had initial conversations with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and also hoped for funding contributions, particularly around pumped-hydro.

The government will also establish a Queensland Energy System Advisory Board to provide technical updates every two years, starting in 2025, “including on how to accelerate the transformation”, the plan states.

Conservation and climate groups have broadly praised the plan as an important step forward, while some criticised continued reliance on gas and a lost opportunity to push further with targets.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the plan provided “enormous opportunity” for the sector, but risks in its shift away from coal power would need to be “managed very tightly”.

Palaszczuk had earlier announced the state would generate 70 per cent of its electricity with renewable technology by 2032, a target that will also be legislated, as part of a push beyond lagging efforts and a reset of energy policy before the next state election in two years.

The government has been tight-lipped about the plan for months, other than releasing details of the country’s largest publicly owned wind farm this week and pledging not to see the closure of any state-owned power stations.

Queensland’s Auditor-General warned in November the state could fall short of its 50 per cent renewable energy target if early projects continued to stall, and found the government was overstating progress and failing to communicate a plan to the private sector.

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