Power supply in the south west of WA has had a troubled week as the sun refuses to shine and wind farms languish on the drawing board.
Vast wind and solar farms connected to an expanded south-west power grid could usher in a WA mining economy based on the green electron after 40 years of gas-powered growth.
A major Japanese investor in Australia’s mining sector has urged NSW to scrap a plan to force coal exporters to reserve up to 10 per cent of their output for local power stations.
WAtoday reported exclusively that a major power station would be shut until January,but can now reveal the problem will last longer into summer.
Last year COVID-19 restrictions coupled with a record heatwave caused huge surges in power use that Western Power’s network could not handle.
WA’s solar panels,coupled with recent mild weather,have caused the state’s major power grid demand to drop sharply,putting the system under stress.
“If we have an early hot spell heading into Christmas like we did last year,certainly the unavailability of Collie power station will put us at risk of having blackouts”.
The state’s Southern Downs renewable energy zone will receive a $160 million federal investment for new infrastructure to connect power generated from wind farms to the grid.
For Synergy boss David Fyfe,closing two coal-fired power stations is bittersweet:the end of an era for Collie but the start of a seven-year race to build cleaner more flexible power.
What’s a manual?
Frigid weather and the upheaval in the energy market has whetted consumer appetite for renewable technologies like home batteries and rooftop solar.