Clean, cheap renewables hit 25%

Clean, cheap renewables hit 25%

This week we celebrated an important milestone - one we’ve been working towards since the introduction of our Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.?

More than 25 percent of the state’s energy supply is now powered by renewables.?

Queensland is on track to beat the state’s renewable energy target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

We’re charging forward towards this goal and expect to connect a further 682MW of new clean generation before the end of the year.?

The increase in renewable energy uptake, thanks to large scale investment and global partnerships, has meant Queensland’s renewable energy supply has increased by more than 20% in just one year, and by more than 250% in eight years.

Increasing our supply of renewable energy is essential.?

Coal and gas generation continues to set the wholesale electricity market and drive electricity prices up for Queenslanders.?

The more clean, cheap renewables come online, the more downward pressure we can put on electricity prices.?

Wind and Solar vs the Alternative

We know that wind and solar power are the cheapest forms of energy generation for Australia.?

This fact has been confirmed time and time again by researchers at CSIRO and Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in their yearly GenCost report.?

Despite this, we see coverage across the media attempting to besmirch this fact in what appears to be a broad campaign against renewables and new transmission links.?

So let’s discuss the alternative that is being proposed: small modular reactors.?

This technology simply doesn’t exist on a commercial scale and would take decades to implement.

By the time the first reactor is built, our Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan will be finished.

In Australia, nuclear power is expensive, complicated, and non-renewable - that's the bottom line.

The AEMO GenCost report included modelling on all forms of energy generation, including nuclear, and it was found that "nuclear generation is higher cost and has a longer lead time than renewables backed by storage and transmission."

This is an assessment shared by every energy company in Australia and two ex-chief scientists.

New renewables with new transmission, firmed with hydro, batteries and gas - is the lowest cost way to supply electricity to Australian homes and businesses as coal fired generation retires.

This is exactly what we're doing in Queensland.

And it's exactly what we'll continue to do, as part of our $62 billion Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.

AEMO released a statement which you can read here:

CopperString forges on

I’m incredibly excited about the future of CopperString.?

This project is going to unlock the power of North Queensland, and the jobs, critical minerals and renewables it creates are going to supercharge the future of the state.?

CopperString is important for a number of reasons:

Firstly, Queensland is crammed full of $500 billion worth of the critical minerals required to produce the batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and EVs that will power our renewable future.

CopperString will deliver power to Mount Isa so we can deliver on our critical mineral mining potential.

Secondly, we’re establishing Australia's largest renewable energy zone in North Queensland - 500MW of pumped hydro, solar and wind projects to charge up the entire state.

We need CopperString to connect this zone to the Queensland SuperGrid, so we can capture, store and send our clean, cheap renewable energy wherever it is needed.

Thirdly, there are 100,000 jobs for North Queenslanders in renewable generation, green hydrogen, critical minerals mining and battery manufacturing.

All unlocked by CopperString - the key to Queensland's energy future.

We need Hydrogen Heroes

Hydrogen will play a significant role in our energy revolution - Queensland is investing in some of the world's largest green hydrogen projects including the Central Queensland Hydrogen (CQ-H2) project and a hydrogen super hub at Abbot Point

It’s essential we have workers that have the skills required to work in this emerging sector.

Which is why we've developed free online courses that will teach the next generation everything they need to know to work in hydrogen.

These courses are developed by CQUniversity in collaboration with Stanwell Corporation Limited and ACCIONA Energía and are designed for secondary school students interested in STEM.

They're fun and interactive and cover topics including how hydrogen is produced, stored, transported and used, as well as the environmental, economic and social benefits.

Queensland needs hydrogen heroes to help create a cleaner and greener future for Queensland.

Now we've got the tools to create them.

Congratulations Matildas!

One final bit of news.

I can’t resist talking about the Matildas legendary performance on Saturday night.?

As an ex-sports Minister, it brings me great pride to see the Matildas break through into the semi finals of the biggest women’s sporting event in the world.?

It’s especially hearting to see so many Queenslanders representing on the squad - nearly half the players come from the sunshine state!

There must the something in the water.?

But the thing that brings me the most pride is knowing that their success will inspire a new generation of athletes, who will look to Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler as proof that when you put your mind to it and put in the work, anything is possible.?

Until next week,

Mick.