Coal breakdowns and maintenance overruns show why we need more renewable energy
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Coal fired power stations across our electricity market have continued to record huge numbers of breakdowns during the peak summer period of 2025-26, compounded by overrun maintenance.
A new Reliability Watch report has identified that over the 2025-26 summer period, the coal-fired power stations in Australia's main grid had a staggering 108 outages, including 18 scheduled and 90 unplanned breakdowns. This builds on previous report findings, which showed that Australia's ageing coal fired power stations broke down 247 times in the twelve months to October 2025.
On average, 5.3 GW, or 25%, of coal fired power station capacity was unavailable at any point during the period from October 2025 to February 2026. As well as breakdowns, coal fired power station maintenance is becoming significantly more problematic. Of the coal fired power units which were scheduled to have maintenance over the period, these planned shutdowns overran by an average of two weeks. Maintenance on units at Tarong and Yallourn went on for more than twice as long as planned.
Queensland's peak conservation body says the continued breakdowns and maintenance problems show that the Crisafulli Government's energy roadmap, which commits to keeping coal power stations online past their technical end of life is entirely ideological and tying Queenslanders into higher energy prices and pollution.
Queensland Conservation Council’s Energy Strategist Clare Silcock said
Our report findings are hard, indisputable evidence that our coal clunkers are failing and need to be replaced.
No matter how many billions of taxpayer dollars the Crisafulli Government funnels into patching up coal power stations, we’re not going to see reliable power from these ageing generators as they struggle to keep up with renewable energy, which now powers 30% of Queensland’s grid.
Queensland’s ageing coal power stations had 52 outages over the period from October 2025 - February 2026, including 47 unplanned breakdowns. Over the previous twelve months, Queensland’s coal fired power stations broke down 131 times.
The most calamitous breakdown was at one of our youngest coal fired power stations, the troubled Callide C, where both units broke down due to a communications fault on a hot January afternoon, just before peak demand.
Luckily, renewable energy and batteries, including more than 770 MWh of storage in people’s homes, is coming online to help the system out. But the Crisafulli Government’s uncertainty around wind and battery approval processes, on top of having repealed the State’s renewable energy targets will do nothing but drive up emissions and power bills, and increase energy unreliability.
We’re calling on the Premier to stop playing Queenslanders for fools and to be honest that our failing coal clunkers aren’t able to provide reliable power for decades to come. It’s time for the Queensland Government to put ideology aside and plan for the energy transformation.