Queensland's Labor government says it has no plans to shut down state-owned coal-fired power stations so it can meet its renewable energy target.
Energy Minister Mark Bailey has rubbished a new analysis of Labor's 50 per cent renewable target by 2030, which warns the target will force power stations to close and increase the risk of widespread blackouts.
He says the analysis is the work of former LNP federal candidate Jonathan Pavetto, and warnings about plant closures are nonsense.
"The Palaszczuk government is committed to public ownership of our power assets. We have got no plans to close any of them.
This is just absolute nonsense from the LNP," Mr Bailey has told ABC radio.
"Mr Pavetto was intimately involved in the privatisation program as a consultant by Tim Nicholls and Campbell Newman ... you've got to see it in that context."
Mr Pavetto, an electricity economist, produced the analysis for the Australian Institute for Progress, which says it is not politically aligned.
His analysis states Stanwell's Tarong plant near Kingaroy would be first to close in 2018-19, followed by two units at the Gladstone Power Station in 2020-21 and Stanwell's Rockhampton station in 2026-27.
He also warns Labor's green power policy could see blackouts across the state, for up to 15 per cent of the year, once the policy is in full force.
Mr Pavetto went on ABC radio on Monday to defend his views, which he says are backed by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
"What their reporting shows is that to get to a 50 per cent renewable target by 2030 - and they have modelled this - is that there will be some requirement to close down power stations in Queensland," he said.
He said AEMO had clearly stated in its National Transmission Network Development Plan that coal-fired power generation would have to be cut to reach the 2030 renewables target.
AEMO's own modelling said Tarong would be first to close, then half of the Gladstone plant, and then Rockhampton, Mr Pavetto said.
"If you're going to be having a 50 per cent renewables capacity ... you have to displace some of that coal generation from somewhere."
