Western Australia planning for a future built on renewables

Released yesterday, the WOSP provides a 20-year outlook on the future of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said that the state is making tremendous gains in its efforts to increase the role of renewable energy and this plan will ensure the transition is well-managed and least-cost.

“Western Australia has traditionally lagged behind the eastern states when it comes to renewable energy, but it’s really starting to make up ground off the back of innovation in the use of distributed energy resources, with one in three households having rooftop solar,” Thornton said.

“I’d like to congratulate the Western Australian Government for its proactive efforts to embrace clean energy. It has resulted in a rapid transformation across both small- and large-scale renewable energy and, most recently, plans were unveiled for a 100 MW big battery to help stabilise the state’s energy needs.”

Importantly, coal-fired generation will decline under all four scenarios in the WOSP modelling, and the emissions intensity of electricity production will decrease in all scenarios.

“Western Australia boasts world-class wind resources and to see wind generation as the preferred form of new large-scale capacity in all scenarios, ranging from 60 MW to over 3000 MW at the highest demand scenario, means that the state will harness its significant clean energy advantages to keep energy prices low for all energy users,” said Thornton.