The Queensland Government has begun the development of a five-year Energy Roadmap which will be delivered by the end of 2025.
Yesterday at the Queensland Energy Club, Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki said the state government is committed to delivering affordable, reliable and sustainable energy to Queenslanders.
“Our five-year plan must ease pressure on our balance sheet, derisk our energy future, and add significant generation capacity,” Janetzki says.
The Queensland Government’s Electricity Maintenance Guarantee supports more than $400 million of investment into maintenance of the government-owned generators in 2024-25.
This includes completing the refurbishment of the cooling tower at Tarong Power Station, as well as upgrades of the Callide B1 and B2 units.
Janetzki says Labor had neglected the state government-owned corporations by prioritising cost savings and restricting investments into maintenance, personal safety and plant performance.
“Labor’s neglect resulted in the Callide explosion that left the unit offline for more than 1,200 days, and pushed up power prices for Queenslanders,” the minister says.
Janetzki also announced the government would transfer oversight of Queensland Hydro, the entity charged with delivering the Borumba pumped hydro project, to Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC).
“We’ve made this decision following revelations from Queensland Hydro in December the cost to deliver Borumba had blown out by $4 billion to a total of $18 billion and would take an additional three years to complete,” he says.
“The report also revealed there was less than a 1% chance of Borumba being completed on time for its first planned power in 2030.
“QIC is uniquely placed and experienced to support Queensland Hydro to deliver a proper commercial assessment of delivery options.”
The state government also intends to invest $50 million into the Mt Rawdon Hydro Project through Cleanco. The investment aims to help progress the project towards a final investment decision.
In addition, $134 million in funding has been approved for CS Energy to develop its 400 megawatt Brigalow Gas Peaker Project at Kogan Creek.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Queensland Government
