Planning Minister and Deputy Premier Steven Miles has called in the proposed coal-fired power station on a cattle property located 30 kilometres north-west of the town of Alpha.

Palmer’s Waratah Coal had initially lodged the project through a code assessable development application with the Barcaldine Regional Council under what the Government called “an outdated 2006 planning scheme’’. 

The application did not require public consultation.

The power station would use 4 million tonnes a year of coal and Waratah also has plans for its own thermal coal mine in the nearby Galilee Basin. Waratah has also claimed it would have net zero emissions.

However, few experts think a coal fired power station would be viable when existing stations around Australia are being closed because they cannot compete with low cost solar.

Waratah has claimed the project would be able to provide base load, net-zero power at around $80 a megawatt-hour.

“Which means that the project will be able to provide net-zero, base load power, without adversely impacting power prices in Queensland and without any government subsidy,” the company said in a submission to the State Government.

Miles, however, has used his power to call in the project to protect the state’s interests. 

Miles said the call-in would ensure a thorough planning assessment could be made on the project and the community would get its say.

“Barcaldine Regional Council has never assessed a project of this size. This call in allows the State to address a broader range of matters than the council was able to under their planning scheme,”  Miles said.

“This will include seeking public comment on the project. I want to make sure the community get their say on a project of this scale.”

Mr Miles said the recent notice proposing to call in the project gave an opportunity for interested parties to make representations regarding the proposed call in.

“Council’s initial assessment work was very useful to the planning department in their preparation of advice, and this was considered along with representations from interested parties regarding the proposed call in,” he said.

“We will now commence assessment of the application in accordance with the Development Assessment Rules and the Planning Act 2016, starting with the issuing of a confirmation notice.”

The council had initially said it was capable of making a proper assessment of the project even though it was considered peculiar.

When a call-in of the scheme was initially proposed, Waratah said the application had been made to meet a need to supply reliable power to the approved mine and to the local area.

“It has become very evident in discussions with the local community that the existing power supply is unreliable and does not meet the reasonable expectations of the community,’’ Waratah said.

“If the consequence of increasing supply, the project places downwards pressure on electricity prices, and improves both access to, and cost of, power then this will be a great community benefit. 

“Most importantly, the power will be base load, dispatchable and capable of being net-zero carbon at costs similar to current power prices in Queensland.

“Compared with plant currently operating in Queensland, the Galilee Power Station will provide reductions in carbon emissions by between 15 per cent to 22 per cent.’’

Its net zero emissions goal would be met by offset certificates and later through carbon capture and storage