The federal government has received 66 submissions from power generators looking for taxpayer money to underwrite new investments.

The projects reportedly include 10 power stations run entirely or mostly on coal.

While the government is not releasing a breakdown of generation types, Energy Minister Angus Taylor says the expressions of interest in the new program cover a balanced mix, including new coal, gas and hydro power stations.

“The strong response to the underwriting new generation investments program by the energy industry proves there is no shortage of willingness to invest in Australia’s future energy supply,” he said in a statement on Friday.

He again stressed the government’s intention to take a technology-neutral approach to generation.

“The program will provide financial support to develop firm generation capacity as part of the Australian government’s commitment to lowering electricity prices and increasing reliability in the system,” he said.

The proposals are spread across the eastern states, with 26 planned in NSW, 17 in Victoria, 15 in South Australia and 12 in Queensland.

Combined, they would provide more than 29,000MW of new generation – more than half the existing capacity of the national energy market.

The Australian reported 10 of the projects were either entirely based on coal-fired power generation or included coal as a key part of their energy mix.

Labor raised fears when the underwriting program was announced that it could be used to fund the construction of a new high-efficiency low-emissions (HELE) coal-power station, which it says is at odds with Australia’s need to cut emissions.

The government will now consider all the submissions before announcing which ones it will underwrite.