Article by Ryan Cropp, courtesy of The Australian Financial Review.
21.10.2025
Queensland has struck a deal with Gina Rinehart-backed Senex Energy to supply the state’s first new gas-fired power plant in more than a decade, as state governments look to shore up their energy systems amid major policy uncertainty and repeated supply shortfall warnings.
The 10-year deal will supply gas to the Crisafulli government’s proposed Brigalow Peaking Power Plant, a 400 megawatt state-owned generator with the potential to power up to 150,000 homes during peak demand periods, which it announced as part of its new state energy roadmap earlier this month.
Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki says the previous government’s energy plan was “fundamentally dishonest”. Jamila Filippone
The NSW government on Tuesday made its own move to stave off gas supply issues when it gave the green light to the repurposing of a 1200km pipeline from South Australia that will allow it to transport gas to the state’s east coast.
Gas is expected to play a key role in Australia’s energy transition, especially as a source of firming power during renewable energy droughts, although there are disagreements about the size of the fuel’s overall role. The federal government’s flagship subsidy program for new energy generation, the Capacity Investment Scheme, explicitly excludes gas power.
Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki, who is speaking at the AFR Energy and Climate Summit on Tuesday, said construction of the new gas power plant was a more pragmatic and realistic investment than the previous state government’s massive Pioneer-Burdekin hydroelectricity project, which the LNP scrapped shortly after taking office in 2024.
The Crisafulli government has set aside $479 million of taxpayer funds to develop the new gas power plant.
“The need for new gas capacity is universal across all market outlooks to de-risk the energy system as it transitions over time,” Janetzki said.
The plan to build new gas-fired generators is a part of the Crisafulli government’s energy roadmap, which was released in early September and also includes a greater long-term role for coal in the state’s electricity mix.
Queensland is forecast to have up to 4.1 gigawatts of gas-fired generation capacity by 2030 and that could more than double by 2035. Stanwell and CleanCo, which are both owned by the Queensland government, are also investigating gas-fired power projects at Gatton and Swanbank.
The new energy policy is a major departure from that announced in 2022 by the previous Labor government, which committed the state to having 80 per cent of its power coming from renewables by 2035, including by investing in large and expensive pumped hydro projects and getting rid of coal-fired power generation by the same date.
Under the plan, the state-owned Kogan Creek and Stanwell coal plants are expected to run through to the 2040s, while the privately owned Millmerran power station could technically run to 2051.
Queensland’s energy plan has created tensions with the federal government, which recently committed to reducing Australia’s nationwide carbon emissions by 62-70 per cent by 2035. The federal target is heavily reliant on the near-total phase-out of coal over the next decade.
The federal government is also several months into a major review of Australia’s east coast gas market, and is widely expected to announce new domestic supply conditions on Queensland’s LNG export industry amid sustained high prices and repeated warnings of supply shortfalls.
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe says the state’s gas pipeline plan will help address supply risks and price issues. Flavio Brancaleone
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, who will also speak at the AFR Energy and Climate Summit, said reliable gas supply was a key element of the transition to a clean energy system.
“The plan to repurpose the pipeline is a short-term measure that will boost gas supply to the east coast and complements the other work we are doing to supply risks and price issues,” she said.
The high-pressure pipeline from the Moomba region is owned by infrastructure giant APA group and has been idle since 2023, wh
