Record year for renewables eases prices and pollution as coal clunkers go missing in Queensland

It might be surprising to hear that 2025 was a record year for renewable energy in Queensland, and the lowest fossil fuel electricity generation the state has seen in more than two decades.

But the price and pollution relief could be short lived.

The state saw 15 projects, totalling more than 4.5 GW of large-scale solar, wind and storage, come online, pushing renewable energy generation 10% higher than in 2024. More than one third of all electricity generated in 2025 was renewable.

These are the findings of a new report from the Queensland Conservation Council.

It was also a record year for fossil fuel generation, in a good way. 2025 marked lowest recorded output from coal and gas since 2001, when the now-troubled Callide C power station was newly minted, and when coal and gas provided 98% of Queensland’s electricity.

In 2025, Queensland’s coal fired power stations continued to struggle. Although Callide C has returned to service after the turbine explosion at unit C4 and water cooling tower collapse at unit C3, our analysis found that there were still 131 outages at coal fired power stations in Queensland in the year to October 2025.

An average of 24% of coal fired capacity was unavailable at any time over that year.

These coal clunkers are not up to the task of providing reliable, affordable and sustainable energy – as the Queensland LNP Government is fond of promoting – into the future.

But the most satisfying part of the 2025 data is seeing the pay off in reduced wholesale prices as renewables and storage push gas out of the market.

Gas power stations in Queensland operated at a 14% capacity factor, lower than large-scale solar. Queensland’s wholesale prices were the lowest they’ve been since 2020, before the Ukraine war pushed fossil fuel prices through the roof.

Emissions are also the lowest they have been in more than twenty years, despite rising demand.

However, it’s bittersweet to see this and know that the LNP Government is ideologically committed to gas and coal despite the high price tag of gas and the increasing failures of coal.In 2026, renewable energy will continue to rise with committed projects but investment in Queensland has fallen off a cliff since the LNP Government was elected.

Recent figures from the Clean Energy Council show that only four projects reached financial close or started construction in the first year of this state Government compared to fifteen in the final year of the Labor Government under the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.

The way to make sure prices keep coming down is to ensure a well planned transition, which prioritises energy efficiency and distributed energy, and protects nature.

Our analysis found that better policies to support energy efficiency and solar on rental homes and businesses could meet at least one third of our projected energy needs by 2035.

So far the Queensland Government has delivered a “supercharged” solar for rentals scheme that will help around 6,500 of the 620,000 rental households in Queensland get solar.

The renewable energy zone framework has disappeared into the backblocks of bureaucracy leaving communities with less certainty despite more individual social impact assessments.

The Queensland Government has publicly slammed the EPBC reforms that might actually protect important threatened species habitat, without sacrificing the crucial transition to renewable energy.

More disturbingly, they have consistently sided with the gas industry.

Farmers on the Darling Downs are still fighting to get an election promise to protect the Condamine Alluvium from CSG expansion. In December, the Queensland Government voted against all other states in opposing a domestic gas reserve.

The facts are clear. Renewable energy will bring down emissions and stabilise prices. Gas companies have been profiting at Queenslanders’ expense for years.

Unfortunately for Queenslanders, the price and emissions savings seen in 2025 could soon be in the rear vision mirror as the Queensland Government commits to expensive, polluting fossil fuels.

Clare Silcock is a renewable energy engineer and Energy Strategist at the Queensland Conservation Council.