As Queenslanders swelter through another day of high temperatures and humidity, another three units at coal fired power stations are offline. These power stations are not able to meet demand. Queensland Conservation Council says that this shows the need for an energy plan to build new renewable energy and storage to replace ageing, unreliable coal fired power stations.
Queensland Conservation Council Energy Strategist Clare Silcock says:“Last week, Queensland’s energy grid had to struggle through an unexpected outage at Callide power station. This week, it’s Tarong North that went offline unexpectedly, along with two units at one of the state’s oldest power stations in Gladstone.
“In both weeks, Queensland has been sweltering through high temperatures and high humidity. This is leading to high prices and some customers losing supply. Queensland’s coal fired power stations are not up to the task of keeping the lights on. These power stations are only getting older, as temperatures get hotter.
“We need to see investment in renewable energy backed by storage to make sure we can meet demand into the future. That’s why we’re so concerned that the Queensland Government does not have an energy plan and are discussing repealing the state’s renewable energy targets.
“We can’t afford to send a chilling signal that Queensland is closed for clean energy investment. That would be a disaster for our future power bills, energy reliability and our environment.
“We’re already seeing batteries play a major role in keeping the lights on. On Wednesday night, batteries provided the equivalent of one unit of a coal fired power station at peak demand. We need to build more storage.
“But the State Government have said they will not take the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan forward. Instead, they have poured $1.4bn into Queensland’s ageing coal clunkers to improve maintenance.
“Now we’re just watching a different coal fired power station let us down every week. More money isn’t going to solve the fact that these stations are reaching the end of their life. The State LNP needs to accept this and plan to build new renewable energy backed by storage.”
Yet another coal failure.