Analysts say sector could expand sixfold if all planned projects proceed and government focuses on carbon reduction policies

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Regional Queensland is on the verge of a $24bn renewable energy boom, but the “vast majority” of projects will never be built without the phaseout of existing coal-fired power stations and government policy to reduce emissions in the energy sector.

A new report by analysts Green Energy Markets, commissioned by Solar Citizens, finds the renewable industry could expand sixfold – employing 34,000 people in construction and 1,500 people in ongoing jobs – if all projects under planning were to proceed.

The report found Queensland solar and windfarms were performing well above international standards – most were between 20% and 50% more efficient. Homes with rooftop solar already save $720 a year on power bills.

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The report said while the future could be bright, policy settings needed to shift if Queensland was to capitalise on the opportunity and meet the state’s 50% renewable energy generation target by 2030.

“The vast majority of these projects [under consideration] will only proceed to construction if there is new government policy to encourage further carbon pollution reductions in the electricity sector or the closure of existing power plants,” the report says.



Louise Matthiesson, the spokeswoman for Solar Citizens Queensland, said the state’s high-quality sun, wind and water resources offered a competitive advantage over other states and countries.

“Without strong, consistent and ongoing policy support for renewables, it is highly likely Queensland will miss out on many of these opportunities and fall short of reaching its target of at least 50% renewable energy by 2030.

Matthiesson said the state government’s establishment of a renewable energy corporation, CleanCo, was a welcome step. But she said Queensland still lacked a clear industry roadmap to ensure growth continued.

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Last week the Queensland government announced it would establish CleanCo, a long-planned and publicly owned generation company that would focus on renewables. In the June state budget papers, it appeared plans for CleanCo had stalled.

The government now expects CleanCo will be trading in the national energy market by mid-2019, operating an initial portfolio of about 1,000MW of renewable and low-emissions generators.

It was hailed as a “game changer” by treasurer Jackie Trad last week.

The Green Energy Markets report said a recent assessment of the energy grid by the state government’s transmission business, Powerlink, “suggest[s] there is room to support substantial additional renewable energy capacity in the network”.

“For a number of locations within Queensland it is already evident that network capacity would need to be upgraded to enable further projects currently in development to proceed,” the report said.

“Transmission lines lose some of the electricity they transport as heat, with losses tending to be greater the longer the distance from the generator to the electricity load and the closer the line is to its capacity limits.”