Industry braces for more shocks in Queensland as LNP “calls in” two more wind and battery projects

The renewable energy and storage industry should be bracing itself for the possibility of more shock announcements from the Queensland LNP government, with two more wind projects now in the sights of deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie.

The 700 megawatt (MW) Marmadua Energy Park in the Western Downs and the massive 1.32 gigawatt (GW) Middle Creek Energy Hub have both been “called in” by Bleijie, who is also the planning minister, and have one more month to respond to a lengthy series of questions.

The directives have only just come to light, and according to one letter dated July 25 to project owner Cubico demand responses to questions around completed voluntary benefits agreements for both projects, even though those rules were only being revealed in May, months after the original planning documents were lodged.

“The Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (to be commenced) demonstrates the importance of local government engagement,” the request for information says.

“The application does not currently demonstrate the local government’s agreement on the measures and commitments to manage and counterbalance social impacts.

The proposed solution is to “provide an agreement with the local government that delivers tangible and equitable benefits to the community”.

Other queries include requests build on those issued by the planning department earlier in the year for detailed oversize/overmass vehicle haulage routes, more information about the consequences for flora, fauna and other environmental processes, and assessments on how the energy hubs will stand up in a natural disaster or extreme weather. 

Owner Cubico Sustainable Investments Australia launched both projects into the state planning process on 29 December last year. 

Bleijie took over both planning applications in March and then asked for more information in July, on 19 issues for Middle Creek and 28 different issues for Marmadua.

Cubico has until 9 October to respond to the directives, and a spokesperson says they’re now working on benefits agreements.

We have recently given formal notification to Western Downs Regional Council that we are undertaking social impact assessments for the projects, which will include further engagement with stakeholders and communities,” they told Renew Economy.

“The assessments will then inform two Community Benefit Agreements with Council that will cement our commitments to long-term economic and social benefits for the region.

“We consider questions in the request for information regarding flora and fauna, haulage routes, native vegetation and noise to be reasonable requests as part of the planning process.”

Uncertainty abounds

While many of the issues identified appear to be a normal part of the planning process, Bleijie’s track record this year of disrupting or cancelling wind projects is unlikely to inspire trust in the process.

In May, he cancelled the planning permit for the Moonlight Range wind project on the grounds of “minimal and insufficient” community consultation after he issued a similar call-in notice to the already-approved development in January. 

And just last week Bleijie effectively ended an also-approved wind project proposed for a state pine plantation, by repealing the law allowing the dual activity to happen. 

Three other wind projects were paused at the start of the year so Bleijie could judge whether they’d done enough community consultation, but ultimately the Bungaban, Wongalee and Theodore developments were approved.

However, federal environment minister Murray Watts, a Queensland Labor Senator, and state opposition leader Steven Miles both took aim at Bleijie and the LNP government at the Smart Energy Conference in Brisbane on Tuesday.

“Queensland doesn’t want their (the renewable energy industry’s) business,” Watt said. Miles said the situation had changed dramatically since the state Labor government lost power last year.

“When we were at this summit just last year, there was incredible optimism within Queensland’s renewable energy industry …. lots of projects advancing to financial close, lots of investors are looking for new projects to create jobs here and deliver cheaper energy here,” Miles said.

“We’ve seen since then an incredibly chilling effect driven by Jarrod Bleijie and the LNP’s ideological war against renewables, particularly their hatred of wind projects and their decisions to cancel these projects at very late stages.

“It is sending shock waves through those investors, shockwaves through all of those companies who have spent their money getting these projects ready to deliver cheaper power for Queensland. And that’s a that’s a real shame.”

See: Queensland’s latest wind farm kill sends shockwaves through renewables industry

The Marmadua Energy Park would see up to 110 turbines alongside a 200 megawatt hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS), on farmland tucked in between three state forests.

The site is a rural area on the Western Downs, 225km west of Brisbane, which is dotted with coal seam gas wells both inside and outside the nearby forests, and is already host to a number of major solar, battery and wind projects.

The Middle Creek project to the south is a 183 turbine development with another 200MWh BESS, with a capital investment of more than $1.76 billion.

In documents lodged with the federal EPBC environmental process, Cubico says it may add a solar farm in the future as well. 

• * This article has been updated with comments from Cubico.

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