Queensland sets new record share of wind and solar, its first since anti-renewable LNP swept to power

The state of Queensland has set a new record for wind and solar share – reaching 77.5 per cent on Saturday morning – the first time the record has been broken since last October, and the first since the LNP government won office in the state election nearly a year ago.

The state of Queensland has the lowest share of renewables of any state, and the new LNP government is intent on keeping it that way, promising to repeal the previous Labor government’s renewable energy targets, erecting huge planning barriers for new wind and solar projects and committing billions to maintain its ageing coal plants.

The state has an average share of renewables of just 31 per cent in the last 12 months, behind the other major coal state NSW, which had a renewable share of 35 per cent. South Australia sits at 75 per cent (averaged over last year, and all wind and solar), Victoria at 46 per cent, and the hydro dominant Tasmania at 83 per cent.

The previous Queensland Labor government had set renewable targets of 50 per cent by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032, and 80 per cent by 2035, but the LNP says it is not interested in meeting them and is cancelling the targets, along with approvals for projects such as the large Moonlight Range wind facility.

See: “Deeply disheartening:” Landowner slams cancellation of wind project as developer considers reboot

On Saturday morning at 11.25am, Queensland hit a new instantaneous peak share of 77.7 per cent of state demand, driven mostly by nearly 4 GW of rooftop solar output, which accounted for 46 per cent of state demand at the time, and helped along by large scale solar (27.5 per cent), and wind (3.5 per cent).

Around 2 GW of surplus capacity was being exported to NSW at the time.

According to GPE NEMLog, this beat the previous record of 77.5 per cent reached on October 20 last year, a week before the Crisafulli government won power at the state election. Earlier in the day, at 9.05am, large scale solar reached a new record share of 34.9 per cent, beating another record that had stood since the previous Labor government.

Given it is approaching spring, a season of favourable wind and solar conditions and moderate demand, more renewable records will inevitably be set, particularly as the state’s biggest wind project, 930 MW MacIntyre facility, and the new Clarke Creek facility work through their commissioning process.

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.