Govt defends desal power scalebacks

The state government says its energy load reduction scheme has had no ramifications for water supply, despite summer supply scalebacks at the Water Corp’s Binningup desalination plant.

WA Liberal energy spokesperson Steve Thomas has called out the government’s handling of the energy system and its transition plan, after it was revealed that energy use was scaled back at Binningup desal plant more than a dozen times during peak energy periods over summer.

The scale backs came as part of the Australian Energy Market Operator’s supplementary reserve capacity program, through which heavy power users are incentivised to reduce their energy load during periods of peak demand.

The Binningup facility is understood to have run down its activities 13 times over the summer period, as the state navigated a balance of power within an energy grid in transition.

In a statement, Dr Thomas said the government “should be embarrassed” that it was unable to allow its desalination plant to keep running during a drought at the start of the year.

“In the middle of the driest year in memory, shutting down the desalination plant to stop the state running out of electricity is an unacceptable outcome, and it’s only going to get worse,” he said.

Dr Thomas questioned the economics of paying businesses to stop using electricity to prevent blackouts and said the cost of mitigation measures were being passed onto consumers.

But the state government strongly refuted Dr Thomas’ claim that the Binningup facility had been “stopped” and said dispatchable load reduction was a legitimate technique used to manage the grid.

“This had no impact on water supply or wastewater services in Western Australia,” a state government spokesperson said.

“The decision to engage Water Corporation and other large energy users was made during an extremely hot summer for WA in which recurring heatwaves put pressure on the state’s energy system.

“Energy demand records were repeatedly broken, but the system responded, with AEMO able to manage it through peak periods.”

The state is progressively closing its coal-fired power stations towards a target of full retirement by 2030, as it pushes for a renewably fueled future.

One 200MW state-owned facility at Collie – Muja C Unit 5 – has already been closed, with a further 900MW to follow.

Late last year, the government deferred the planned closure of its Muja C Unit 6 plant by six months to help manage the energy load as the state progresses its renewable ambitions.

Dr Thomas questioned the policy, given projected growth in the state’s energy needs.

“The demand for power is predicted to rise significantly over the next five years, just as the supply is being shut down,” he said.

“Hopes for a renewable energy rescue have been dashed by a massive underinvestment by the state in renewable generation, transmission and storage.”

The state government spokesperson defended the government’s record in renewables generation and storage investment.

“We know WA’s booing economy will only add to energy demand in the future,” they said.

“That’s why the state government is investing billions of dollars into new clean energy generation, transmission and storage across the state.

“That includes big batteries in Collie and Kwinana, which will bolster system stability and maintain affordability.”

 The Binningup desalination plant produces around 30 per cent of Perth’s water supply.