Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says there is no public cost in the development of a hydro-electric project connecting Townsville with Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Origin Energy plans to bring the power to Australia within a decade via an undersea cable and a transmission line.

Ms Bligh says the State Government will help deal with issues such as Native Title.

"Like every project of this size, it'll have a lot of hurdles to cross," she said.

"It'll have a lot of issues along the way.

"The project does not [call] on the Queensland Government for any funds.

"Our role is to facilitate and work with the partners to ensure that the legal requirements of Queensland are met and that we can see a corridor bringing this power into our state."

'Big announcements'

Opposition spokesman Jeff Seeney says the Government should put more effort into renewable energy sources now - not in 10 years.

"Queenslanders are currently paying too much for their electricity because this Government has failed on a range of projects," he said.

"They need to fix those things rather than chase these types of big announcements for a headline."

Mr Seeney says he is sceptical about the plans.

"All of these big announcements should be taken with a grain of salt," he said.

"The announcement today is eerily similar to the PNG gas pipeline.

"It came to nothing and I fear this will come to nothing as well.

"There are much more immediate things that they can be doing here in Queensland to increase the level of renewable electricity in Queensland's power supply."

'Creates jobs'

The Papua New Guinea government says the proposed power line to Townsville would create jobs in its country.

PNG Minister Moses Maladina says the dam would be built in an undeveloped area.

"This project has the potential of having a significant impact, improving the lives of the people in these areas," he said.

"The other reason why the signing of this communique is important is that the project will offer employment opportunities for thousands of people - not only in Queensland but also in PNG.

"So I concur with the Premier that this project is a win-win."