The MITEZ energy futures forum in Mount Isa on Monday heard plans on how North Queensland will become a net exporter of renewable energy.
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With Queensland setting a 50pc renewable target by 2030 and investing $2 billion in the sector, there is plenty of opportunities for economic development and new jobs in tandem with mining developments.
Energy analyst and former Ergon boss Ian McLeod told the forum from Brisbane the "Repowering the Townsville and NWMP Industrial Economy" report estimated the known in-ground value of resources in North West Queensland was $680 billion which included $500 billion of new economy minerals needed for solar panels, batteries, wind turbines, electrification and electric vehicles.
Mr McLeod said the North West was a currently isolated network with 320 megawatts of power generation through the Diamantina and adjacent Thompson power station and was looking at the feasibility of 100MW of renewable generation half of which might come from the Vast Solar/Stanwell collaboration, the North West Queensland Hybrid Power Project.
More might come from a company called Neoen, which was represented on the forum panel by head of development Garth Heron.
They are in discussions to provide solar and wind power in Mount Isa using their giant battery technology they developed in conjunction with Tesla for South Australia.
Also speaking on the panel was John O'Brien from Copperstring 2.0 which plans to link the North West to the National Electricity Market via a high-voltage 1100km-long transmission line.
Mr O'Brien said Mount Isa's advantage when it came to solar was that the sun was still shining there an hour after it gets dark in Brisbane.
He said CopperString was finalising their Environmental Impact Statement with around 85pc of the route covered by access agreements.
Construction is expected to commence late 2021, with the NWMP access to the NEM targetted for mid 2024.
Mr O'Brien said access to the NEM would deliver cheaper prices for North West mines which will underwrite the need to double the world's production of copper and other minerals crucial for the new economy.
He said that when common use infrastructure such as CopperString is built it acts as a spur for the rate of exploration and mining, with similar growth spurts after the linking of Cloncurry and then Mount Isa to the rail network early in the 20th century, the commissioning of Mica Creek Power Station in the 1960s and the Mount Isa 220kv network in the 1980s.
Mr O'Brien said CopperString would facilitate large-scale wind development at Hughenden, and large-scale renewables across the NWMP.
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