Coal-fired power will be phased out in Queensland by 2035, and the world’s biggest pumped hydro scheme will be built under a $62 billion energy plan announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

By 2032, the government will set a target that 70 per cent of Queensland’s energy supply will come from renewables.

To reach the target, which will be legislated, the government plans to build two new pumped hydros, one near Mackay and the other near Bundaberg.

The Premier said it would be the largest pumped energy hyrdro storage in the world, bigger than the Snowy Hydro project.

Coal-fired power stations will gradually transition to clean energy hubs.

Deputy premier Steven Miles said work had already begun to transform how Queensland generates power.

“It is a huge plan, it’s going to take a 100,000 people to work on it,” he told Neil Breen.

“It will at the end of the day deliver us cheaper power, reliable power so we know the lights will stay on, lots of jobs but also take care of the workers who work in the current power stations too.”

He said there will be “lots, lots more jobs in this plan than without this plan”.

“Nobody needs to worry that there won’t be a job for them, we need to make sure we can provide them with a pathway that takes them from the job they are in today to the job they will be in in the future.”

Press PLAY below to hear more about the bold plan

Image: Jono Searle/Getty Images