The Queensland government has pledged to invest $3.2 billion (USD 2.2 billion) in the CopperString transmission project as part of its 2026-27 Budget, with early works progressing on the Eastern Link and ground broken at Flinders Substation.
CopperString will connect north and northwest Queensland to the National Electricity Market (NEM) enabling new generation, firming, and industrial development.
The two sections of CopperString include the Eastern Link, a stretch of 350 kilometres of 330 kV transmission line from Reid River near Townsville to Hughenden, plus related infrastructure.
For the Western Link, a $200 million North West Energy Fund (NWEF) will be used to support local renewable energy generation, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and microgrids for communities including Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, and Mount Isa.
Powerlink says the fund will be used to partner with the private sector to invest in flexible firming solutions to reduce reliance on gas for baseload electricity consumption, while options to deliver the Western Link are developed.
As part of the $3.2 billion, the government said it has also budgeted $420 million in funding to support construction activities for the Eastern Link as well as enabling works for the Western Link, including through the NWEF.
Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki said momentum is building with workers on-site at the Flinders Substation breaking ground as delivery of CopperString for the North and North West moves forward.
“Communities along the corridor can have confidence this government will deliver what it promised. We’re putting real money on the table and real construction on the ground,” Janetzki said.
Critical minerals
Fuelled by the potential of a critical minerals boom Janetzki said that is the reason for a $200 million investment in the NWEF to get energy solutions up and running as CopperString is built from Townsville to Mount Isa.
“The North West Minerals Province is one of the richest mineral producing regions in the world, potentially holding $700 billion in critical minerals,” Janetzki said.
“Strong feedback was received during market sounding for the North West Energy Fund and new energy generation and storage to service the Dugald River Mine is already being considered, alongside other proposals.”
The Chinese state-owned China Minmetals Corporation (CMC), which holds a majority stake in and controls the Melbourne-headquartered MMG Limited Dugald River zinc-lead mine is located near Mount Isa, 1,824 kilometres northwest of Brisbane.
Sydney-based energy infrastructure APA Group-owns and operates the Dugald River mine 88 MW remote-grid solar farm, which spans 198 hectares and uses 184,000 bi-facial panels to displace approximately 33% of the mine’s electricity-related emissions.
Connection to the North West power system will give the mine a direct connection point to CopperString, through which it can securely import NEM power and in turn export surplus generation from its solar facility or an, in-the-pipeline 24 x 6 MW wind turbine generation / battery energy storage system facility.
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