Santos' decommissioning liability matches a quarter of its $22b value, but its disclosures to investors fared poorly against the latest accounting standards, according to an international survey.
Australia's biggest oil and gas producer has posted record production and cut costs, but weak fossil fuel prices have weighed on profits
Investors beware: after spending more than $40 million in the Canning Basin, the US-owned company's continued pursuit of remote gas appears to be throwing good money after bad.
Two new wind farms and surging rooftop solar installation has pushed renewable energy to 35% of South West WA's power in October, mainly at the expense of coal.
South West WA received 35 per cent of its power from renewable energy in October, up from 25 per cent a year ago, due to two new wind farms and continued installation of rooftop solar panels.
The new Yandin and Warradarge wind farms in the Mid-West pushed wind’s share of generation from 12 to 17 per cent, to overtake rooftop solar panels that rose from 13 to 16 per cent.
Collie’s coal-fired power stations produced 29 per cent of the power consumed on the South West Interconnected System in October 2020, a massive cut from 37 per cent in 2019.
Coal-fired output dropped by more than a fifth, an indication of the immense financial pressure facing the town’s two privately-owned coal mines and the Bluewaters Power station.
Peter Milne
Gas is now the dominant fossil fuel burnt to generate power, with 35 per cent of the market, but still lost 2 per cent of the market year on year due to the surge in renewable energy.
The 212-megawatt Yandin wind farm has generated power since July.
Warradarge started in August but only connected its full 180 MW in late October, indicating that future years could see a more power generated by wind in October.
Peter Milne
The data comes from OpenNEM, a platform that just extended its coverage to WA and, unlike market operator AEMO, includes generation from rooftop solar.
Main image: Warradarge wind farm. Source: Synergy
South West WA's power grid reached a record 91 per cent peak renewable energy share in December - driven by 1,225 MW of new battery storage - while wholesale power prices fell 13 per cent and carbon emissions dropped 15 per cent as coal and gas generation declined.
The state-owned utility needs to replace the generation capacity it will lose by closing down all its coal-fired power stations over the next four years.
The operator of South West WA's power grid needs insolvent Griffin Coal to keep supplying a vital power station, but if the WA Government won't keep it going, who will?
Troubled UK oil and gas major BP has exited its third WA alternative fuel project in six months, walking away from the Australian Renewable Energy Hub after just two years.
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