Curse of Callide: How government-backed power station fell into voluntary administration
The State Government has been left in the lurch as the curse of Callide struck again and its joint venture partner Intergen’s IG was put into administration.
Callide power station near Biloela. (Image; CS Energy)
The Government’s CS Energy was in a joint venture with Genuity subsidiary IG at the troubled Callide C units. Callide C3 has been out following an incident at its cooling tower in October 2022 and C4 is offline following an explosion in May 2021 and both are not expected back on line until later this year.
The company appointed administrators “due to an ongoing failure of the entities’ shareholders to agree to future funding of the joint venture,” according to Deloitte’s restructuring partners Grant Sparks and Richard Hughes who were appointed administrators of IG Energy Group late last week.
The ownership chain of the company goes up to Czech multinational Sev.en, a company that environmentalists claim is strongly supporting fossil fuels.
CS Energy was saying nothing about whether it would take out the remaining 50 per cent stake in the Callide C units, but that’s what the Queensland Conservation Council wants.
ASIC records show IC Power went into administration in 2016 and QCC energy strategist Clare Silcock said it was rescued by a related entity.
She said the Government should take control of the asset to remove the Sev.en interests.
“It’s no surprise that IG Power has gone into administration. Both units of Callide C have broken down and won’t be running again until at least September. It’s very hard to be a financially viable coal-fired power station operator when your coal-fired power station isn’t operational,” Silcock said.
“The Energy and Jobs Plan doesn’t set a clear retirement date for Callide C because of the complexities of the joint venture, which creates more uncertainty for Queensland workers and communities.
“We can be sure that IG Power owners, Intergen, are not acting in the best interests of Queenslanders here. They are looking to pull off another dodgy deal, where potentially the Queensland taxpayers step in to bail this private company out.
“The Queensland Government needs to accept that the joint venture was a failure, and that taking public ownership is the best way to manage the transition to cheaper, cleaner energy, without getting pulled into the financial games of large private companies.”
“The Government should also look closely at Millmerran, Intergen’s other privately held coal fired power station in Queensland and consider opportunities to bring that back into public ownership to be able to provide the certainty we need to manage the transition.”
