Newsroom

January 11, 2022

With State Government commitment to connecting the North West Minerals Province (NWMP) to the National Grid, KAP is warning of big corporate moves to protect the current monopoly over the power market in the North West, Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter has said.

The building of a 1,000 kilometre transmission line connecting the mineral-rich North West Minerals Province (NWMP) to the national electricity grid will be a transformative event in Queensland’s history akin to the building of the Great Northern Railway. The connection of the North West to the National Grid will transform not only the North West Minerals Province, but also Townsville and Queensland’s minerals and hydrogen industry.

“Townsville has missed out on more than a decade of growth in minerals and large-scale renewables production because the North West has been isolated and the electricity market out here has been broken.

“Mining companies have complained to me for years about the high prices, poor reliability and lack of competition in electricity supply in the NWMP being a huge barrier to investment,” Mr Katter said.

“The only ones who seem to be opposed to delivering more competition, better reliability and low prices are the owners of the Diamantina Power Station, who have a vested interested in protecting their profits,” Mr Katter said.

“APA holds all the cards in negotiations with mining companies on electricity prices and they’ve got a reputation for using all their aces,” Mr Katter said.

“If you’re a mining company and there is only one supplier who is charging 40% more than your competitors have to pay for electricity, you’d be asking yourself why you’d invest in North West Queensland,” Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter said he is highly encouraged by the Queensland Treasurer’s recent public comments supporting the CopperString 2.0 project.
“The Treasurer, major customers and key industry groups are supportive of CopperString because they know the North West will drive huge economic growth for Townsville and the rest of Queensland if the NWMP is connected to the grid,” Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter said the talk of a boom in renewables misses the basic fact that there’s no inland transmission capacity to get it to the market.
“Any new capacity brought on line whether it’s solar or wind still needs to be connected to the grid and right now you’ve got the potential for that investment to happen, but no where for the electricity to go,” Mr Katter said, pointing to the potential for "green hydrogen" development in Townsville as a perfect example of where CopperString will come into play.

CopperString 2.0 is set to begin construction in 2025 assuming all the regulatory approvals are granted, but Mr Katter is confident both state and federal government's will come good on their commitments.

“CopperString 2.0 is the missing link to North Queensland's prosperity which is why it has support from all levels of Government and across the political spectrum , and despite APA trying to stand in the way to protect their monopoly, I'm confident it will go ahead” Mr Katter said.
“Without CopperString we have billions of dollars of so-called new economy resources stranded in the bush, locked-in, along with billions in revenue, which could pay for better housing, health and provide tens of thousands of jobs to Queenslanders,” Mr Katter said.