Northern Endeavour oil vessel without power for weeks in Timor Sea
The blackout is another problem in a clean-up effort of an ex-Woodside vessel that will cost Australia's oil and gas producers well over $1 billion.
Power in WA's South West is generated by State-owned Synergy and private companies while the State's Horizon Power and miners cover the rest of the State.
Next summer the South West will have less coal-fired power available in the system but more storage from grid-scale batteries.
The 250 MW station is set to open in 2029, when coal-fired generation ends in South West WA, but new gas turbines are increasingly hard to get.
All the storage is due to be connected to the grid before the first of WA's coal-fired power stations closes.
The Liberals predict by 2027 WA's south-west power system will be on the verge of collapse but Labor is confident that batteries, wind and gas will come to the rescue.
Large power grids are among the most complicated machines humans have ever devised - here is how a key component works.
The south-west grid shattered numerous records in late 2024 as new batteries and more rooftop solar replaced unavailable coal-fired power.
Ahead of opposition leader Peter Dutton releasing costs for his nuclear policy this week, for the seventh straight year renewables were the lowest-cost new power generation technology.
WA energy policy in Labor's second term may have to tackle tough issues avoided so far, including tariffs, Collie's future, the role of gas, and a path to net-zero by 2050.
WA's iron ore miners must develop wind power and drop decades of rivalry to share transmission networks to meet their emissions reduction targets, according to Alinta Energy.
WA energy minister Bill Johnston sees no current alternative to gas for dispatchable power and wants to use low prices to lure more gas-hungry investments to WA
Solar is "an uncontrollable generation source" making life hard for operators of the South West grid, according to an annual review of the network by operator AEMO.
If CO2 from Yara's Pilbara ammonia plant is buried WA could ship a clean fuel to displace coal in JERA's Japanese power stations, but underground carbon storage has its doubters.
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