Annastacia Palaszczuk concedes green hydrogen production 'too hard' after Central Queensland Hydrogen Project collapses
Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose Queensland government backed the now-failed Central Queensland Hydrogen Project, now doubts the vision of the government she led after a litany of projects failed.
'Hydrogen is proving to be in the 'too hard' basket,' Ms Palaszczuk told Sky News on Tuesday.
'The price is not right. People are looking around (at) solar, batteries, (there are) conversations around making more gas supply available domestically.
'Hydrogen is just too hard at the moment and until those prices come down, I don't think we'll see those projects taking off the ground.'
The nation's largest hydrogen project, CQ-H2, was axed on Monday after it failed to attract sufficient investment.
Ms Palaszczuk conceded the announcement was 'a little bit disappointing' given her loud support for green hydrogen during her tenure as Premier.
'It was high in the national agenda, but it just doesn't stack up,' she said.
'I can understand why this has happened at this particular point in time.'
She pushed back against the suggestion Queensland Labor was given inaccurate forecasts about improvements in green hydrogen technology, remaining adamant there was a future in the renewable fuel.
'You've got to be in it to win it,' Ms Palaszczuk said.
'Whoever's going to crack green hydrogen is going to make a lot of money so you've gotta be in it to win.
'Good partnerships were happening with the state enterprises, but also too with other countries, but it was just found to be too difficult in these circumstances.
'That's not to say it's not going to happen down the track, but the seed funding was necessary at the time.'
Several green hydrogen projects have fallen around the country in recent months, raising concerns about the feasibility of the energy source.
Despite this, Energy Minister Chris Bowen recently flagged efforts to provide $8 billion over 10 years into the hydrogen industry.
Addressing the collapse on Monday, Mr Bowen conceded there would be challenges facing green hydrogen projects and said the Crisafulli government's decision to withdraw financial support meant the collapse came as "no surprise".
"Does it face headwinds? Of course it does. Of course it does. It faces investment headwinds," Mr Bowen told reporters.
"And as I've said, including in a speech just a couple of weeks ago, these things don't follow a linear line; you have progress, you have setbacks."
Meanwhile, Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan has blamed the Albanese government for driving up power prices due to an 'ideologically driven renewables-only agenda'.
'Minister Bowen's ideological renewables only approach is disrupting the energy system and leading to higher electricity prices,' Mr Tehan said on Tuesday.
'There is no transparency about the true costs to consumers of Labor's renewables only approach and underwriting renewable energy projects using taxpayer money.'
According to the government's own Australian Energy Market Commission, 'new generating plants do not earn enough money… to compensate for the investment'.
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