Queensland remains committed to a 50 per cent renewable energy target, despite conservative backlash as a result of last week's South Australian storm that plunged the entire state into darkness.
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State Energy Minister Mark Bailey, who will attend a COAG meeting of energy ministers in Melbourne on Friday, said the federal government should be doing more to increase renewable energy targets, despite its criticisms of an over-reliance on renewable energy in the wake of the storm.
On Wednesday, Federal Resources Minister Matthew Canavan said north Queensland opposition to a reliance on renewable energy would not be represented at the COAG meeting, as he argued the case for north Queensland statehood.
Mr Bailey said north Queensland had the most to benefit from renewable energy projects, such as the Genex Energy solar and hydro power station west of Townsville, so he thought Senator Canavan's comments were misguided.
"At the moment, north Queensland is powered from central Queensland," he said.
Seven renewable power stations currently in the pipeline for north Queensland would result in more than 650 jobs during construction, Mr Bailey said.
"There's a jobs boom coming to north Queensland over the next 18 months and north Queensland needs these jobs enormously," he said.
In the wake of the South Australian storm, Queensland Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls blasted the Palaszczuk government's "ideological obsession" with green energy.
While 22 transmission towers collapsed at the height of the storm, Mr Nicholls put much of the black-out blame on what he called South Australia's "over reliance on sustainable energy sources", which he said exposed an "alarming lack of energy security".
"The first priority of a government must be to provide householders, essential services and industry with a reliable source of power, and then to ensure that power is affordable," Mr Nicholls said.
"In the last month, the SA Labor government's 40 per cent (renewable energy target) led to that state effectively running out of power, leading to wholesale power prices going through the roof, hurting not only consumers but also industry.
"We don't want to see that happen here in Queensland."
Mr Bailey said the problems in South Australia were likely a result of power transmission failure, as opposed to power generation failure, although a definitive answer on the cause was still some time away.
In the meantime, Mr Bailey blasted both the federal government and state opposition over what he called opportunistic attacks on renewables.
"For them to be pushing this agenda before the event was over, well I was gobsmacked," he said.
"There's an unwritten rule in politics that in emergency situations like that, when the first responders are still out on the ground, you leave the politics out of it."
The Queensland government aimed to meet its 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.
