The state government has announced the development of an energy Generation Outlook to provide an outline of the type, size and timing of future power generation to help ensure Western Australia has adequate, cost-efficient electricity supply.
The state government has announced the development of an energy Generation Outlook to provide an outline of the type, size and timing of future power generation to help ensure Western Australia has adequate, cost-efficient electricity supply.
Energy Minister Peter Collier said it would identify significant risks and deficiencies in the electricity supply chain and develop strategies to address such risks.
"The Generation Outlook is crucial to ensure the Government has the ability to identify emerging power issues before they arise and to make the necessary adjustments to policy and market settings," he said.
"The plan is not intended to see a return to centralised decision-making, rather it will provide the Government and industry with a better medium-term outlook for the sector as a whole.
"We inherited an appalling situation, following the split of Western Power Corporation, where the State lacks a complete picture of power generation. This knowledge gap was identified in the Oates Review."
The state government said the benefits flowing from the development of the Generation Outlook include discouraging excessive oversupply of capacity and supporting the existing capacity mechanism to ensure reliability and security is maintained.
It will provide investment clarity for market participants, increase competition within and between given fuel types while identifying and addressing potential barriers to investment, and facilitating an efficient rollout of renewable energy.
"This type of planning was conducted by Western Power Corporation before the disaggregation process but was lost during the split of the Government entity," Mr Collier said.
Full announcement below:
Generation planning to provide energy security outlook.
Energy Minister Peter Collier has announced the development of an energy Generation Outlook, as part of the State Government's ongoing commitment to energy security and reliability.
This will provide an outline of the type, size and timing of future power generation to help ensure the State has adequate, cost-efficient electricity supply.
Mr Collier said it would identify significant risks and deficiencies in the electricity supply chain and develop strategies to address such risks.
"The Generation Outlook is crucial to ensure the Government has the ability to identify emerging power issues before they arise and to make the necessary adjustments to policy and market settings," he said.
"The plan is not intended to see a return to centralised decision-making, rather it will provide the Government and industry with a better medium-term outlook for the sector as a whole.
"We inherited an appalling situation, following the split of Western Power Corporation, where the State lacks a complete picture of power generation. This knowledge gap was identified in the Oates Review.
"For example, a lack of this type of planning has resulted in too much baseload power, which is now stranding some of the State's cleanest and most efficient power plants."
The benefits flowing from the development of the Generation Outlook include:
- discouraging excessive oversupply of capacity
- supporting the existing capacity mechanism to ensure reliability and security is maintained
- providing investment clarity for market participants
- increasing competition within and between given fuel types
- identifying and addressing potential barriers to investment
- facilitating an efficient rollout of renewable energy.
"This type of planning was conducted by Western Power Corporation before the disaggregation process but was lost during the split of the Government entity," the Minister said.
"Unfortunately, this is another policy legacy of the previous Labor government.
"The Liberal-National Government initiative follows work being implemented through the Gas Supply and Emergency Management Committee to mitigate the impacts of emergency situations such as the Varanus Island explosion.
"The Government is committed to a secure, reliable, competitive and cleaner energy future."
