Western Power calls for Goldfields grid support

Western Power will contract emergency power support from third parties in the Goldfields, as it seeks to avoid a repeat of the disruption caused by severe outages in January.

The state government has ticked off Western Power’s request to source up to 150 megawatts of reliability services from third parties through a non-co-optimised essential system services (NCESS) process.

Western Power will also contract for a system strength service, designed to maintain an isolated network in the case that the line connecting Kalgoorlie to the state’s main power grid is lost.

The moves are being taken following what the government has labelled a “freak supercell” thunderstorm in January, which severed the Goldfields’ connection to the South West Interconnected System and left customers without power for several days.

A private power plant, Goldfields Power’s 110 megawatt Parkeston facility which supplies minesites, was used to support Kalgoorlie over that time despite being knocked back for a contract to supply back up power to the grid in 2022.

The plant is run by TransAlta, which owns it alongside Northern Star Resources.

The NCESS procurement process is underway, and additional generation capacity is expected to be available by July 2026 and secured over a five-year term.

Energy Minister Reece Whitby said the government was committed to improving the power system in the region.

“The procurement process will seek to encourage development and deployment of innovative non-network solutions to maintain reliable supply to the Goldfields and meet customer expectations for increased renewable energy in the South West Interconnected System,” he said.

Network infrastructure in the Goldfields region currently consists of a single, 650km power line from the Muja power station near Collie to the West Kalgoorlie Terminal.

During the storm, five of the towers supporting the line collapsed.

The inadequacy of the current infrastructure was outlined in the Coordinator of Energy’s determination on Western Power’s request to undertake the NCESS.

“The length of the overhead line and its exposure to environmental factors make it susceptible to unplanned outages,” the document said.

“While most unplanned outages are of short duration, there have been occasions where the outage period can last for an extended period due to major equipment or line structure damage.”

Western Power’s application highlighted the distance and anticipated cost of building a second transmission line in pitching the use of the NCESS process.

The Energy Coordinator, Jai Thomas, agreed that Western Power’s proposal was valid but cautioned that outside procurement needed to mitigate cost impacts.

More than 16,700 customers use the power provided by the existing infrastructure, spanning domestic, commercial, agricultural and mining users.

Premier Roger Cook committed to replace back-up generators in Kalgoorlie in January, after the 40-year-old West Kalgoorlie back-up station tripped during the power crisis.

Opposition energy spokesperson Steve Thomas said the process to procure back up energy should have started in 2022, when a series of power outages hit the Goldfields.

“Kalgoorlie faces another two years of blackouts until the new system might be in place, assuming there are no further delays,” he said. 

“Kalgoorlie is a major regional city, so it has backup generators in case of system-wide failure, but once again that back up is failing the community and it appears will continue to do so.”

The news comes a day after the Australian Energy Market Operator, which maintains the operation and security of the state’s wholesale electricity market, requested to increase its industry-funded budgetary allowance by $100 million.