The Queensland government’s new energy plan is a “deliberate strategy” to undermine renewable development, one industry body says.
The comments came in a submission to the governance, energy and finance committee, which held hearings into the proposed legislation at parliament house this week.
Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki has said the state will rely on coal-fired power until at least 2046 – 11 years later than the former Labor government’s plan.
Queensland Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki announced the plan earlier this month.
His Queensland Energy Roadmap also scrapped the renewable energy target, as Janetzki declared the government would stick to its legislated net-zero-by-2050 emissions commitment.
At the time Tony Wood, energy and climate change senior fellow at the Grattan Institute, said it would be “very hard” to meet that timeline.
“I don’t see how you can have that much coal-fired capacity still running in the mid-2040s and still get to zero effectively by 2050,” he told this masthead immediately after the announcement.
In its submission to the committee, the Smart Energy Council – which represents renewable energy, storage, electric vehicle and hydrogen companies – was highly critical of the legislation.
“[This appears] to form part of a deliberate strategy to undermine renewable energy development,” chief advocacy officer David McElrea said.
“The repeal of legislated targets, the re-centralisation of ministerial discretion, and the open-ended extension of coal generation are not neutral policy adjustments — they are political choices that deliberately erode the investment certainty renewables rely on.
“In reality it is a return to the rhetoric of the climate wars. These measures have little to do with engineering or reliability and everything to do with ideology.”
It added its belief the plan would lock the state into “a higher-cost, higher-risk” energy system.
Tony Wood, energy and climate change senior fellow at the Grattan Institute, said it would be “very hard” for Queensland to meet its net-zero commitment under the plan. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The council called for the committee to restore renewable energy targets, commit to a clear strategy to withdraw from coal, retain Renewable Energy Zones and develop a plan to expand rooftop solar, batteries, and electric-vehicle integration.
The government energy plan features a reliance on both coal and gas to support the gradual transition to renewable sources.
It includes a $400 million Queensland energy fund to entice private sector investment and a $1.6 billion electricity maintenance guarantee to improve existing assets owned by the state.
Queensland Investment Corporation, the state-owned investment body, will be tasked with engaging the private sector to build pumped hydro.
The Energy Minister added CopperString – almost 1000 kilometres of overhead powerlines between Townsville to Mount Isa – would be delivered with $2.1 billion in savings, and claimed the energy plan would save the average household about $1035 a year.
Wood added he believed it was “not as catastrophic” as some industry groups had predicted.
“It’s not as though they’ve abandoned renewable at all, and I think it’s pretty pragmatic,” he said.
At a Queensland Press Club lunch announcing the plan to hundreds of industry representatives and stakeholders on October 10, Janetzki said he believed lowering emissions remained important but had to be balanced with ensuring affordability and reliability.
“Put at its most straightforward, to meet the energy generation challenge of our future we need more generation,” he said.
“Coal for longer, more gas, more wind and solar and more pumped hydro and batteries for firming and storage.
“My task was to find the balance … I want to continue to see emission reductions because it’s important.”
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