Western Australia

The Western Australian government has made a number of announcements at a hydrogen conference held in its capital on Tuesday, December 6, including a commitment to streamline project approvals, releasing new policy and guidance for Crown land use, and an update to the state target of having green hydrogen comprise 1% of the generation in the state’s main grid.

Energy consultancy Xodus Group has announced plans to develop an export-scale green hydrogen project in the Mid-West region of Western Australia which will scale up to 1 GW of electrolyser capacity.

Woodside says it has secured an agreement with the traditional owners for land on which it plans to build the first 50 MW stage of what could eventually expand to be a 500 MW solar power plant in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Resource-sector heavyweight Rio Tinto is planning to invest $600 million (USD 402 million) building two new solar farms and battery energy storage systems in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of the company’s efforts to decarbonise its iron ore operations.

The booming uptake of home PV systems has steered Western Australia to a new peak for instantaneous renewable energy share, with clean energy – including rooftop and large-scale solar – providing a record 81% of the total electricity generated in the state’s wholesale electricity market.

Australia’s first hybrid solar and renewable hydrogen microgrid has officially launched as green hydrogen production began at Horizon Power’s demonstration plant in the coastal community of Denham in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region.

Western Australia’s largest virtual power plant, the government-support Project Symphony, is live. The project is particularly noteworthy for its introduction of new markets to reward different services and its use of Dynamic Operating Envelopes.

There is almost a daily announcement about a major green hydrogen project being built somewhere in the world. Hydrogen and ammonia can be made from fossil fuels but also from renewable energy and water using an electrolyser producing zero carbon emissions. It is critically important that we can tell when it is zero emissions and prevent ‘greenwashing.’

Australia’s first utility-scale solar PV project is marking its 10th anniversary, a milestone that also serves to highlight the pace and scale of the country’s transition to a renewables-led future.

Western Power will begin allocating regional properties in Western Australia’s main grid the same electricity supply as their urban counterparts. The shift comes after sustained community pressure since pv magazine Australia first reported on the issue in July 2022.