Call for coal-fired power station in NQ

Former resources minister Ian Macfarlane has called on the federal government to help pay for a coal-fired power station to be built in north Queensland.

Mr Macfarlane, the chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council, wants the Turnbull government to use part of its $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to fund the building a power station near Townsville.

Currently there is no coal-fired power station north of Rockhampton in central Queensland and Mr MacFarlane said the region needed a stable, base-load power source.

"If this region is to develop to its full potential and be part of the powerhouse of northern Australia, we need to see its own stable power generation here in Townsville, which does include wind and solar farms but it also requires coal-fired power supply," he said in a speech in Townsville.

"If we're going to use technologies and government grants for renewables then we should also use it for coal, which provides stable base load power."