The Queensland state LNP government has taken credit for the wind farm investments made under the previous Labor government as it boasts of its huge pipeline new fossil fuel projects on the six-month anniversary of its controversial energy roadmap.
The six month update of the energy roadmap, written by state treasurer and energy minister David Janetzki, focuses almost entirely on new fossil fuel projects such as the Taroom Trough oil and gas reserve and several new gas plants.
- “Queensland is open for business with the Energy Roadmap delivering investor certainty after Labor’s decade of decline,” the statement says.
- “Continued investment in coal and gas generation is supporting Queensland’s domestic energy security.”
That is depressing enough, and the fact is that Queensland is not open for business for new wind and solar, as the energy roadmap made clear when it was first released, and which has since been underlined by the scrapping of the renewable energy target, and the decision to “call in” multiple wind and battery projects.
In his latest statement, Janetzki says the roadmap is credible because more than a gigawatt of new storage and a gigawatt of new renewables becoming operational since mid-2025. He does not name those projects, but all would have started construction well before his government was elected in November, 2024.
He also claimed that “through the Investor Gateway, QIC is matching investors and developers to drive new investment in more than 1,700 megawatts of capacity across Queensland’s energy sector, in partnership with Government Owned Corporations.”
He identified the CS Energy investments in the 228 MW Boulder Creek and 285 MW Lotus Creek wind farms. Just to be clear, both investments were announced well before LNP was elected to power. The Lotus Creek purchase was was bought in August, 2024, and the Boulder Creek deal was announced in October, 2024.
Even more bizarrely, Janetzki takes credit for identifying potential off-take opportunities for the the proposed 360 MW Moah Creek wind project.
Just to be clear, the only thing that has been announced in relation to that project is the decision by the government-owned CleanCo to abandon its plans to invest in Moah Creek because it “does not align” with its new investment priorities.
And if you really want to know what the LNP actually thinks about these projects, check out this Facebook video from LNP MP and Rockhampton deputy mayor Glen Kelly, who has been instrumental in forcing other projects to be “called in” and effectively stopped in their tracks.
Kelly is particularly annoyed about both the Boulder Creek and the Moah Creek projects. “These developers need to be called out how sneaky and how deadly they can work because it is all about money,” he says. “It is not about saving the environment.”
Similarly, Janetzki takes credit for “identifying potential off-take opportunities” for another government owned company Stanwell at the 436 MW Tarong West wind project.
Again, just to be clear, the only solid announcement made about that project is Stanwell’s decision to pull out of an agreement – made in 2024 – to buy it. They may still buy some of the output.
And while Queensland government utilities have been pulling out of previously agreed purchases of wind projects, they have been all in on fossil fuel developments.
CS Energy has acquired a 20 per cent ownership interest in the 400 MW Brigalow gas peaking plant and agreed to buy all of the production, and Janetzki is very excited about the development of another 400 MW gas peaking plant, and the potential of another 10,000 MW of new gas capacity elsewhere in the state.
“There’s been overwhelming market interest with more than 50 parties engaged and over 10 gigawatts (GW) of prospective gas‑fired generation identified across 17 projects, highlighting Queensland is open for business for new energy investment,” Treasurer Janetzki said.
Queensland had a target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2035, but these were scrapped by the LNP late last year. Instead, it has outlined plans to keep burning coal until the late 2040s, and possibly even the early 2050s, and has promised billions of dollars to try and keep the ageing plants on line.
Queensland has the highest dependence on coal generation of any state (64 per cent in the last financial year and 60 per cent in the current financial year to date), and the smallest share of renewables (30 per cent in 2024/25 and 36 per cent so far this financial year).
Ironically, Janetzki claimed credit for a 10 per cent reduction in bills in the coming financial year.
But that is the case in almost every state, and the Australian Energy Regulator has made it very clear why that is – the growing share of renewables, and of battery storage, which is reducing the amount of coal and gas fired generation used, and their ability to control prices.
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