NOPSEMA has ordered Jadestone to urgently address corrosion on its aged Montara Venture oil vessel in the Timor Sea, which "may pose significant safety and environmental risks."
The US miner's extraction of bauxite near Perth is facing significant public scrutiny for the first time, and many are resisting what is happening to their beloved jarrah forest.
Andrew Forrest's miner is back to the drawing board to find a new solution that does not disrupt production and can be delivered by 2030.
All the storage is due to be connected to the grid before the first of WA's coal-fired power stations closes.
The South West power grid will have an additional 654 megawatts of battery storage before late 2027 after four projects were successful in WA's first tender under the Federal Government's Capacity Investment Scheme
The batteries in Boddington, Merredin, Muchea and Waroona are scheduled to be operational by October 2027 - just when state-owned utility Synergy will shut down its Collie coal-fired power station.
The batteries will be able to store excess solar generation during the day and in the evening discharge enough power for 600,000 households for up to four hours.
The tender launched in September 2024 assessed the ability of projects to reduce the wholesale price of electricity and boost reliability. A second tender for generation and storage is planned for mid-2025.
Peter Milne
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said investors and developers were competing to provide the cheapest form of power - renewables - to WA.
“Peter Dutton wants to stop the renewable rollout and squander Australia’s natural advantages, the sun and wind resources that are the envy of the world,' he said.
“Instead, Peter Dutton will cut critical services to fund a $600 billion nuclear scheme, and extend aging, unreliable coal fired power stations for decades with Australians paying the price with higher bills and reduced reliability.”
PGS Energy will build a 324-megawatt/four-hour battery near Boddington and eventually wants to expand the facility to a 1200MW battery coupled with 400MW of renewable generation.
ASX-listed Frontier Energy plans to build a 120MW solar farm with its 80MW/four-hour battery near Waroona.
Atmos Renewables plans to have its 100MW battery near Merredin operational by late 2026.
Neoen's 150MW/four-hour battery near Muchea, just north of Perth, will add to its huge Australian portfolio, including Australia's first grid-scale battery in Hornsdale SA, the 300MW Victorian Big Battery and its battery at Collie south of Perth.
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.
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.
All the info and a bit of comment on WA energy and climate every Friday
