Australia’s Queensland has allocated new spending on energy projects, including pumped hydropower and transmission schemes, as part of its state budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year to 30 June.
The state government, currently led by the Labor party, will spend A$26bn ($17bn) during the next four years as part of its Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan to wean the coal-dependent state off thermal power sources, budget papers published on 11 June said.
An initial A$8.686bn will be delivered in 2024-25 by state government-owned energy businesses including projects for renewables, grid-scale batteries, gas, pumped hydropower, energy storage and the state’s planned transmission SuperGrid.
The SuperGrid, Copperstring transmission project in the state’s northwest and renewable energy zone infrastructure will receive A$8.5bn over the next four years. Another A$16.5bn goes to renewable energy and storage projects, including the planned Borumba and Burdekin-Pioneer pumped hydropower energy storage.
Some A$500mn will be spent on distribution network storage, including a local network battery plan, with A$192mn going to transmission grid operator Powerlink’s planned training centres in Townsville and Gladstone cities.
Another A$4mn will go to an assessment of potential sources of naturally occurring hydrogen in the state, which is also aiming to develop a green hydrogen sector.
Queensland is aiming to end its state-owned power utilities’ reliance on coal-fired electricity by 2035. The government this year set emissions reduction targets of 30pc below 2005 levels by 2030, 75pc by 2035 and zero by 2050 under theClean Economy Jobs Act, as national debate continues about Australia’s intermediate targets under the UN’s Paris climate accord.
Queenslanders on 26 October get to choose a government for the next four years, although energy policy is unlikely to figure in the election campaign. The centre-right Liberal-National opposition backed Labor’s legislated emissions reduction goals, for which there is no penalty in case of a failure to meet targets.
