Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a clean energy future for Queensland, which includes the biggest pumped hydro scheme in the world.
A new dam in the Pioneer Valley near Mackay will supply half of Queensland’s entire energy needs with clean, reliable and affordable renewable energy.
The dam is one part of a $62 billion Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan. The plan also includes:
- 70 per cent of Queensland’s energy supply from renewables by 2032, 80 per cent by 2035
- Two new pumped hydros at Pioneer/Burdekin and Borumba Dam by 2035
- A new Queensland SuperGrid connecting solar, wind, battery and hydrogen generators across the State
- Unlocking 22GW of new renewable capacity – giving 8 times the current level
- Publicly owned coal-fired power stations to convert to clean energy hubs to transition to, for example, hydrogen power, along with jobs guarantees for workers
- Queensland’s publicly-owned coal-fired power stations to stop reliance on burning coal by 2035
- 100,000 new jobs by 2040, most in regional Queensland
- 11.5GW of rooftop solar and 6GW of embedded batteries
- 95 per cent of investment in regional Queensland
- Building Queensland’s first hydrogen ready gas turbine
- Projects subject to environmental approvals
The Premier said the visionary plan will set Queensland up for the next century.
“This plan is all about cheaper, cleaner and secure energy for Queenslanders. It is about turbo-charging new investment in new minerals, batteries and manufacturing,” she said.
“Renewable energy is the cheapest form of new energy. This plan makes Queensland the renewable energy capital of the world. It also takes real and decisive action on climate change providing the biggest commitment to renewable energy in Australia’s history.”
Deputy premier Steven Miles said the two new pumped hydro facilities would be bigger than the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme.
“We will use cheap solar electricity during the day to pump water up the mountain to store it. Then at night we can release the water to generate electricity. It’s like a giant battery,” Miles explained.
Minister for energy, renewables and hydrogen Mick de Brenni said the Energy and Jobs Plan ensured Queensland’s power generators remain in public ownership.
Treasurer Cameron Dick said Queensland’s energy transformation will provide the greatest jobs opportunity in a generation and will bring manufacturing back to the regions.
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