Barnaby Joyce's costly gamble on coal
It makes no sense to build a new coal power station in Queensland when existing coal stations are in financial trouble.Queensland's budget papers reveal that state-owned coal power stations will stop providing returns in just two years.
Coal-fired power stations are having a hard time staying profitable because cheaper solar and wind energy is driving down the wholesale price of electricity.
Building a new coal-fired power station would be a costly exercise requiring significant government handouts.
What's worse, by dragging the conversation back to coal, the Nationals are denying regional Australians the chance to diversify and future-proof local economies.
In the new world economy, Australia's impressive solar and wind resources, and key mineral deposits, are a competitive advantage that could see us processing and manufacturing materials for the electric vehicle boom.
Plus, we have all the ingredients to become a clean energy superpower and start exporting renewable hydrogen fuel to power cities across the world.
The proposal to build a new 1000MW coal plant in North Queensland, which is being championed by members of the Nationals, would cost more than $3.3 billion.
For that same money, we could build:
If Barnaby and his coal-loving colleagues truly stand for regional Australians, they would be better investing in affordable renewable energy and local manufacturing.
- 2860MW of large-scale solar - enough to power 1.3 million homes.
- 1840MW of four-hour battery storage - big batteries are designed to respond instantly to grid disturbances and can keep the lights on when power plants fail.
- 1430MW of six-hour pumped hydro - storage options like pumped hydro can soak up excess solar energy during the day and generate energy at night.
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