{"id":410292,"date":"2025-10-26T17:19:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T16:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=410292"},"modified":"2025-10-26T17:19:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T16:19:03","slug":"aussie-climate-minister-slams-queenslands-reliance-on-intermittent-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=410292","title":{"rendered":"Aussie Climate Minister Slams Queensland\u2019s Reliance on Intermittent Coal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver reliance on coal and \u2018sweating the asset\u2019 of coal-fired power is [a] far more serious threat to reliability than renewables will ever be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Intermittent\u2019 coal won\u2019t keep the lights on: Bowen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Cropp<\/a><\/strong> Energy and climate reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has ramped up his criticism of the Queensland government\u2019s new energy policy, arguing its plans to indefinitely extend the closure of coal-fired power plants will raise electricity prices and lower reliability.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mining billionaire and clean energy investor Andrew Forrest on Friday said Queensland<\/strong> had incredibly good renewable energy resources, but would be left behind if it remained wedded to old technologies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar farms describe them as intermittent power sources<\/strong> because they can only generate electricity at certain times of day or in response to certain weather conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Bowen said a major outage at Queensland\u2019s Callide C coal plant in 2021 had raised wholesale prices by $30 per megawatt hour and left half a million people without power, while the average level of coal capacity that was unavailable due to outages increased by 28 per cent in the second quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver reliance on coal<\/strong> and \u2018sweating the asset\u2019 of coal-fired power is [a] far more serious threat to reliability than renewables will ever be.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.afr.com\/policy\/energy-and-climate\/intermittent-coal-will-push-up-prices-bowen-20251024-p5n4zf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If you are wondering how anyone could ever describe coal as less reliable than renewables, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen<\/a> has repeatedly demonstrated his rather shaky grasp of engineering. For example, he thinks you can store electricity like water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chris Bowen isn't having any of Uhlmann's 'wind doesn't always blow' rhetoric.

"the rain doesn't always fall either, but we manage to store the water – we can store the renewable energy if we have the investment"#auspol<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/LjJkEr3zJy<\/a><\/p>— Squizz (@SquizzSTK) June 16, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>