The Queensland government is on track to beat a 2030 target of powering 50 per cent of the state's electricity through renewable energy, announcing it is already halfway there.
Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Minister Mick de Brenni said there had been an increase of more than 20 per cent in clean energy supply in the past year to the state's power grid.
He said this gave the government confidence the target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030 would be met early.
“But we can only do this by transitioning away from coal and gas generation, which continues to set the wholesale electricity market and drive electricity prices up for Queenslanders," he said on Tuesday.
He said the state budget had allocated capital investment of $19 billion over four years to deliver on the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.
“We will see further opportunity for local businesses and a significant economic uplift for regional and rural communities as we continue towards our targets and enshrine the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan in law," Mr de Brenni said.
Queenslanders are installing a rooftop solar system on average every 10 minutes, with more than 800,000 rooftops fitted with solar panels.
Mr de Brenni said the state was expected to connect a further 682MW of new clean generation before Christmas.
"Once renewables dominate the wholesale electricity market, we will see long term reductions in wholesale power prices," he said.
Stephanie Gray from the Queensland Conservation Council said while the clean energy milestone of 25 per cent clean energy was significant, there was no time to waste in boosting the private sector's investment in renewable energy.
"We need to make sure that there’s no slowing down if we’re going to meet our renewable energy targets, bring down the state’s emissions and slash power bills," she said.
She has warned against a sense of complacency within the clean power industry that government would take the reins.
“Across the country we’ve seen a concerning drop in the number of solar and wind farms reaching financial close,'' she said.
"In Queensland the government has made investments in new publicly-owned clean energy projects, but we have no policy incentive to drive the private investment that’s also needed to transform the energy system."
