Gas Deal Secures Reliable Energy for Queensland

Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Minister for Home Ownership The Honourable David Janetzki
  • The Crisafulli Government is a step closer to delivering Queensland's first new gas-fired power station in more than a decade.
  • The Crisafulli Government is delivering a plan for Queensland's future, with CS Energy and Senex Energy entering into 10-year gas supply agreement.
  • Natural gas from the Atlas development to fuel proposed Brigalow Peaking Power Plant.
  • Gas powered generation to play an increasingly important role in supporting grid reliability as part of the energy transition, after a decade of decline under Labor.

The Crisafulli Government is a step closer to delivering Queensland's first new gas-fired power station in more than a decade with an agreement signed to provide locally produced gas to the facility.

The deal is part of the Crisafulli Government's plan, unveiled in the Energy Roadmap, to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable power for Queenslanders.

After 10 years of decline under Labor, the Crisafulli Government is delivering a plan for Queensland's future and delivering in the energy sector to support Queensland households, businesses and big industry.

By improving Queensland's existing energy assets while building what is needed for the future, the Crisafulli Government is putting downward pressure on energy prices, optimising investment to respect taxpayer money and boosting private sector investment in new generation.

From 2027, Senex will supply up to 58.4 petajoules of natural gas from its Atlas development in the Surat Basin to CS Energy's proposed Brigalow Peaking Power Plant to be built near Chinchilla in the Western Downs.

Once operational, the 400-megawatt gas peaking plant will have the ability to start up and deliver full output within five minutes, delivering reliable energy supply to more than 150,000 Queensland homes during peak electricity demand periods.

As the share of renewables grows in Queensland's electricity grid, so too does the essential role of gas for reliable electricity supply.

The Crisafulli Government backed-in the Brigalow Peaking Power Plant proposal by investing $479 million in the 2025-26 State Budget for CS Energy to develop the facility.

Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki said gas powered generation formed a key part of the Government's Energy Roadmap to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable power.

"This is part of our plan to improve the energy assets we have while we build what we need for the future," Minister Janetzki said.

"We're taking an approach based on economics and engineering, not ideology.

"The Roadmap includes extended coal generation, more low-cost energy production in wind and solar and more dispatchable supply including gas turbines, pumped hydro and batteries for firming and storage.

"The need for new gas capacity is universal across all market outlooks to de-risk the energy system as it transitions over time.

"This is a pragmatic and realistic investment as opposed to the well-established implausibility of Labor's Pioneer Burdekin hydro hoax."

CS Energy CEO Brian Gillespie said the Brigalow Peaking Power Plant would be located next to the company's Kogan Creek Power Station and close to the Chinchilla Battery.

"With its ability to perform multiple start and stop cycles per day, the Brigalow Peaking Power Plant will be a reliable source of fast power when needed and produce significantly less emissions than electricity produced from coal," Mr Gillespie said.

Senex Energy CEO Darren Stevenson said the organisation was proud to be investing more than $1 billion in the Western Downs to deliver reliable energy supply for households and businesses.

"With energy shortfalls forecast for the east coast in coming years, this agreement will add critical new supply to the domestic market when it's needed most," Mr Stevenson said.

In addition, Government Owned Corporations Stanwell and CleanCo are investigating gas-fired power projects at Gatton and Swanbank.

Queensland is forecast to have up to 4.1GW of gas-fired generation capacity by 2030, increasing to between 6.1GW and 8.3GW by 2035.

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