Latest Callide C explosion shows our coal fired power stations need to retire

Another explosion at the troubled Callide power station last week shows that the coal fired power stations are ageing, increasingly unreliable and need a clear plan for retirement, according to the Queensland Conservation Council.

David Janetzki unveiled an investigation into keeping Callide B open beyond its technical end of life on Tuesday, despite knowing that an explosion had occurred at sister station Callide C3 on Friday. Callide C3 is likely to be offline until the end of May.

The Queensland Conservation Council is calling for the Crisafulli Government to invest in renewable energy backed by storage and plan for an orderly exit of coal, not attempt to prolong the failing stations.

Queensland Conservation Council Energy Expert Clare Silcock said

The Crisafulli Government is throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at coal-fired power stations and they’re still breaking down because our coal fleet is ageing and increasingly unreliable. No amount of maintenance is going to change that.

The Callide power stations have been plagued by incidents, most notably the explosion of unit C4 and the cooling tower collapse at unit C3. Over the last 18 months, the Callide power stations have only been available, on average, at 50% of their capacity.

At Callide B, unit B1 suffered two outages during January 2025, one of the hottest months of the year, despite a major maintenance project taking it offline from July to December 2024.

To keep the lights on it’s clear we need to diversify our energy supply and build more renewable energy backed by storage. Extending the life of coal just means waiting around for the next breakdown.

What’s concerning is right now the Queensland Government don’t have an energy plan, and by backing ageing coal, they’re actively stifling renewable energy.

The best thing for workers, our energy security and affordability, would be to plan for an orderly exit of coal-fired power stations, starting with Callide B, which is scheduled to retire in 2028.

By the time Callide B is set to retire Queensland will likely be getting 50% of our electricity from renewable energy.

Uncovering another incident at Callide C highlights the harsh reality that despite the Treasurer’s announcement on Tuesday, these power stations are going to keep breaking down. Continuing to rely on them locks us into higher electricity prices and more carbon pollution.

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