The WA government will soon decide whether Black Mountain Energy can frack 20 wells near the Kimberley's Fitzroy River, but promised measures to protect the environment and the rights of local people are not yet in place.
Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger told Wall Street the US aluminium specialist could take strong action to boost profits from alumina, most of which it refines in Western Australia.
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.
Domestic gas, or domgas, in WA comes from gas LNG producers are required to reserve for the local market and smaller domestic gas-only projects.
It has been a long, convoluted journey for Canadian company ATCO to own Perth’s gas distribution network, build dongas in Kwinana and research solar-generated hydrogen.
A west to east gas pipeline could spell the end of affordable gas in WA and cause power prices to jump
The WA domestic gas market needs an exploration boost and more supply from the Gorgon project if it is to meet rising demand over the next 10 years.
Macquarie and Brookfield will have to sell exploration potential in their $4 billion float of Quadrant Energy amid concern its domestic gas plants could run dry in as little as six years.
Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman believes WA has enough gas to keep the North West Shelf LNG plant exporting and the local market supplied.
Woodside is confident it will not have to pipe gas to WA from its giant Pluto project despite the company’s five-year reprieve from the State’s domestic gas policy ending in May 2017.
All the info and a bit of comment on WA energy, industry and climate every Friday
