The Queensland Government will link the North West Minerals Province to the recently launched electrical Super Grid, resulting in a $740 billion resource boom for the state.
Developing transmission infrastructure from Townsville to Hughenden and eventually Mount Isa, according to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, will generate hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs.
According to the Premier, the new transmission link might be able to connect to the $1.7 billion Copperstring 2.0 network that is being considered.
“Our plan for a clean energy economy means lower electricity costs for Queensland’s remote mining and industrial operations. This will spur new investment in rare earth minerals mining such as the copper, zinc, vanadium, and cobalt that are so important for renewable energy generation and battery storage systems,” Premier PAlaszczuk said.
The Premier stated that Queensland’s mining sector now uses the most energy, but it’s also one of our most significant, providing jobs for 77,000 Queenslanders and making a significant economic contribution.
The Premier added that Queensland’s strategy enables miners to get more economical, dependable electricity and decarbonise their operations.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan would spark more expansive renewable energy projects in the state’s north and north-west.
“Independent analysis shows Queensland will need an additional 22GW of large-scale wind and solar capacity by 2035 to achieve our decarbonisation ambitions. The State Government will link renewable energy generators in North West Queensland to the national electricity market. We will provide certainty that large-scale wind and solar farms already planned for the Northern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone will be able to feed their clean electricity into the national grid,” Minister de Brenni stated.
Minister de Brenni added that the $2.6 billion Mount James Wind Farm, proposed for Hughenden, will be one of many new renewable energy projects along the transmission corridor that will receive significant investment due to the new link.
Minister for Resources Scott Stewart said the mining industry currently uses approximately 20 per cent of Queensland’s electricity, but most mines run on gas and diesel generation off the electricity grid.
“Access to the national electricity market will mean lower energy costs for large mining and industrial operations, which typically pay higher electricity prices than their grid-connected competitors,” Minister Stewart stated.
According to Minister Stewart, the mining industry is also highly vulnerable to energy price shocks, like the ones this year’s worldwide unrest has caused.
Regulatory and business procedures are now being applied to the Copperstring project.
“We’ll continue to work with the Copperstring 2.0 proponents on a delivery model to ensure Queenslanders benefit from clean energy opportunities for generations to come,” Minister de Brenni said.
