Queensland has secured four giant machines worth hundreds of millions of dollars to keep the state’s electricity system stable during the transition to renewable energy and avoid disruption from the planned outage of New South Wales’ Ellering generators.
National electricity transmission company Powerlink has signed a deal with Japanese giant Hitachi Energy to install machinery in central Queensland to stabilize the grid and protect Queensland from major power outages when relying on wind and solar energy.
The LNP government last year delayed Queensland’s plan to end its reliance on coal-fired power generation by 10 years to 2046, but Energy Minister David Janetski said the state would invest in a future network of renewable energy sources.
Tony Wood, a senior research fellow at the Grattan Institute, said coal-fired power generation has less of an impact on the energy grid because the supply of electricity is reliable and frequent.
On the other hand, energy from renewable sources can fluctuate and cause power outages. This is why these machines, known as synchronous capacitors, need to act as stabilizers in the power grid, Wood said.
“Not only does it deliver energy, it delivers energy in a synchronized and stable manner,” the energy guru told this masthead.
“So they are large rotating objects that operate for long periods of time, depending on the extent of their manufacture, and can survive interruptions in the power supply and in a way that wind farms and solar farms cannot in their current configuration.”
Queensland’s move to secure the machine, which is expected to come online in 2029, follows similar agreements in Victoria and South Australia, which rely on large sinks to support renewable energy.
Meanwhile, in New South Wales, Ellering, the country’s largest coal-fired power station, will run two years longer than planned due to a lack of infrastructure to secure energy supplies.
In 2025, the New South Wales Government was competing to install the state’s first five machines.
“This transition requires very careful navigation,” Wood said.
“We always knew we had to deal with building more wind and solar grids, and we know it faces a lot of challenges, which is why Ellering and other businesses are now being asked to stay open a little bit longer.”
“this [synchronous condensers] It’s close to what people usually describe as security.
“We’ve been talking about security. How do we make sure that the system is stable in a technical sense and can survive a bad storm or whatever? That’s what this is about.
“It was understood by power engineers, certainly not by governments, and not very well understood by regulators and the general public.”
Mr Janetzki said two machines would be installed at the Calliope River substation near Gladstone, while the other two would be installed at Nebo and Stanwell.
“PowerLink’s important work to strengthen central Queensland’s electricity grid is critical to ensuring Queensland’s energy security and reliability into the future,” he said.
“Work to upgrade, strengthen and enable a new generation of central Queensland will benefit industry, communities and the state’s economy for generations to come.”
The government declined to reveal the cost of the transaction, citing commercial secrecy, but a report by the Australian Energy Market Operator said the machines typically cost about $135 million each.
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James Hall is news director at the Brisbane Times. He is a former Queensland correspondent for the Australian Financial Review and has covered various mastheads across the country, specializing in political and financial reporting.Connect via X or Email.from a partner
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