Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced plans for a new coal port in central Queensland that would increase the state's coal exporting capacity by 40%.
Ms Bligh told an Estimates Hearings about a proposal for a new coal port at Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton, that would have a capacity of 100 mtpa. It would be linked by a 500 km rail line to a new coal mine in the Galilee Basin.
She said that the State Government is in talks with the Federal Government about using defence land for the coal port, but a nearby national park will not be affected. She also said that there are also proposals for two new coal mines in the northern Bowen Basin, another mine at Wandoan, and the expansion of a mine north of Moranbah.
She confirmed that the massive expansion of the state's coal industry was not at odds with the federal government message of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels."The Queensland Government sees a long-term future for coal, as long as we can ensure that it becomes a low-emissions technology," she said.
"The Federal Government's position is that we as a planet have to find a way of allowing the burgeoning economies of India and China to grow, and that means we need to invest in technologies that allow us to continue to use those fuels that are available to us as cleanly as possible, while we also search for alternate forms of fuel."
The government and private industry has committed A$900M to clean coal development.
Waratah Coal's proposal and two others under consideration are subject to environmental impact assessments to take place over two years.Waratah Coal CEO Peter Lynch said drilling in the company's tenements suggested more than 4 bt of thermal coal.
"The Galilee Basin is Australia's biggest undeveloped coal province, with an ultimate resource potential in excess of 20 bt," Mr Lynch said. "This is essentially a 50 to 100 year project."
Mr Lynch said Waratah Coal was talking to prospective partners and third party users of the rail and port facilities, which it would be in a position to finance. He said it would also fund research into emissions, with carbon sequestration and carbon sinks being considered.
Queensland is set to export around 170 mt of coal this year, which it is anticipated will rise to 200 mtpa by the end of 2009 due to the projects currently under construction.
