BP has stood down contractors working on its biofuel plant just weeks before discovering if its adjacent green hydrogen project will win $1 billion of government backing.
Synergy is a WA State Government-owned power generator and retailer operating on the South West grid. It has a monopoly on supply to households and small businesses, two coal-fired power stations in Collie and numerous gas-fired power stations. Through Bright Energy Investments it has interests in wind and solar farms.
WA's EPA is now restraining growth in carbon emissions from industry but it and State and Federal Governments need to do more to keep the State attractive to increasingly climate-concerned investors.
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 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.
South West WA's power system may get two $100M big batteries to help handle rooftop solar growth with Alinta planning an investment at its Wagerup power station.
WA's industrial greenhouse gas emissions are dominated by four products and a handful of companies, including a few that have managed to keep a low profile in the climate wars.
The Liberals know where to take WA energy but probably not how to do it. Labor is on top of the detail but shy of facing the inevitable. So close to a bipartisan approach, will our political class blow it?
Rooftop solar will make South-West WA power greener, but there is no path outlined for Collie's future or to net-zero by 2050, according to a WA Government study.
A huge battery in Kwinana will help tame the chaos in the South-West WA power system caused by soaring output from rooftop solar panels and pave the way for more renewable energy.
WA will be coal-powered for sometime and Synergy is working to ensure its Collie power stations can cope with the new world of intermittent renewable energy.
