Western Australia

Canadian-owned gas network operator ATCO is developing a micro grid at its Jandakot facility, which will use solar power to produce hydrogen fuel. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has committed $1.5 million to the project.

A 7.3 MW solar array and 2 MW/1 MWh battery will be added to the Granny Smith gold mine in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region. The system will be provided by Aggreko and Younicos, under a ‘microgrid-as-a-service’ business model.

German battery manufacturer, Tesvolt and EPC Unlimited Energy won the Smarter E award last week, for their innovative off-grid solar plus storage project in WA’s Southwest. The project demonstrates how solar can provide a reliable energy supply without back up from the grid, and why it is set to spread around the world even faster than many predict.

A new partnership is looking to introduce 10-year solar leases to WA. By targeting new builds and housing developments and halving the standard lease duration, the partnership aims to make solar leases attractive – where previously they have failed to gain traction.

Image Resources has signed a deal with Perth-based Sunrise Energy Group to purchase the power from a 3-4 MW solar PV array, to power 25% of its mineral sands mining operations.

Swiss electricity infrastructure giant ABB has supplied a large battery storage and microgrid solution to Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The system was installed at Alinta Energy’s 178 MW gas-fired Newman Power Station, which supplies a major iron-ore mine in the mineral-rich region.

Western Australia energy provider Synergy has named RCR Tomlinson as EPC contractor for the expansion of the Greenough River solar farm from 10MW to 40MW.   

Construction and building industry superannuation fund Cbus Super has stepped forward, alongside the Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF) as the majority investors in Synergy’s solar and wind portfolio. The newly formed Bright Energy Investments vehicle will clear the way for Synergy to develop a pipeline of large scale solar and wind projects in WA.

While great at delivering hype around battery storage, Tesla’s inability to develop significant volumes of its residential storage units to WA is frustrating installers. With customers interested in buying a Tesla system but supply not meeting demand, it is ‘blocking’ residential storage uptake in the state.

Carnegie Clean Energy will rely on Large-scale Generation Certificate (LGC) and WA capacity market payments on top of wholesale electricity prices on the SWIS to make its 10 MW Northam solar project work. The company broke ground on the project yesterday, in a ceremony attended by WA treasurer and energy minister Ben Wyatt.