According to Renew Economy: "The Queensland LNP state government’s fossil-first energy strategy has come under renewed attack after yet another dramatic outage at the troubled Callide coal generator which also forced a brief evacuation of the plant.

Market analysts say battery storage responded quickly to the outage to arrest the sudden frequency excursion caused by the double failure and the loss of 800 megawatts (MW) of output.

But the Mt Stuart diesel generator, currently burning kerosene, was also switched on, helping push prices in the evening peak to more than $20,000/MWh.

It is the latest in a series of disasters at the Callide coal complex, which is proving a massive liability for the Queensland grid, despite government efforts to rebuild the facility following an explosion in 2021 that nearly caused a state-wide blackout.

The Callide C4 unit had to be completely rebuilt – at a cost of more than $200 million – but the facility also experienced a structural failure in its cooling towers, and last April there was another incident in its boilers that required two months of repairs at one unit.

The latest outage also comes just two months after the completion of an $80 million overhaul of Unit C3, which forced it offline for three months from August, and which CS Energy described as the biggest ever maintenance spend at the coal facility.

Queensland’s coal fleet is the youngest but least reliable in the National Electricity Market.

When the LNP went to the last election with the mantra of taking on young recalcitrant few realised they were talking about the fossil fuel industry

More good news WTF. Now New South Wales is keeping Eraring open for a further 2 years (and expect further extensions). Seems that aging base load power generators are preferable to generators that only turn-up when the wind is blowing at a certain speed, or the sun is shining. https://click.e.skynews.com.au/?qs=bccf0ceb93387f9899e09e39f85c11bc76df4f9a61962c593e2a7f8a8128d1683a73861bd39246f0f39e8f25add1e41f2d1a01369e027323

WTF

Graham - that's not good news that's fantastic news!

I'm so glad that you can point out that NSW extending their power stations' lives will fix all of QLD's energy problems!

Maybe we can outsource all of QLD's power needs to NSW. I'm sure the power brokers in Sydney will take care of QLDers.

Or maybe it's just the coal sales you are interested in.

Now here is some more good news: As of December 2025, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) reported that South Australia—despite having a world-leading 75% share of wind and solar—is the most secure grid in the national market. It was identified as the only state not facing a system strength deficit.

It was only a couple of years ago that the renewable alarmists here on OLO were calling South Australia's grid a failure.

Extending Eraring doesn't demonstrate coal's superiority, it demonstrates the cost of delaying replacement. Meanwhile, SA runs a 75% wind and solar grid and is now the most secure system in the NEM, with no system strength deficit.

That directly contradicts the claim that variable renewables are inherently less reliable than ageing thermal plant. If coal were delivering what's promised, Callide wouldn't be failing repeatedly after hundreds of millions in rebuilds.

"Meanwhile, SA runs a 75% wind and solar grid and is now the most secure system in the NEM"

"Tens of thousands of regional South Australians have been experiencing frequent power outages since last summer, and businesses are warning the disruptions are taking a growing toll.

Ongoing dry conditions across the state since 2024 have caused dust and salt to build up across inland and coastal power networks, polluting insulators that sit atop power poles."

Don't you just hate it when the real world doesn't fit your fantasies.

You're conflating two different things, mhaze.

AEMO's assessment of South Australia as the most secure system in the NEM refers to bulk power system security (frequency control, inertia, and system strength). The quote you've posted describes local distribution outages caused by dust and salt contamination on power poles and insulators.

Those outages would occur regardless of whether generation is coal, gas, or renewable, and they don't contradict AEMO's system security finding. They're a maintenance and weather exposure issue at the distribution level, not a failure of the generation mix.

If you believe AEMO's assessment is wrong, the argument needs to engage with that assessment directly.

//Don't you just hate it when the real world doesn't fit your fantasies.//

I'll get back to you on that when it happens.

For now, I'll just have to take your word for it that it's not exactly pleasant.