Steve Thomas: WA will run out of electricity without a better plan

The State Government is not prepared for future electricity demands during heatwaves as it closes down its coal generation fleet. On Sunday, February 18 this year, at five minutes to 6pm, the South West power grid hit a new record in demand of 4233MW. It happened on the hottest day in Perth that month, with the temperature hitting 42.9C. WA managed to keep the power on to keep the air-conditioners running and the lights on, but it did so by relying on gas and coal running at near full capacity. At 5.55pm, the State’s gas-fired power stations were contributing 2528MW of power, or 58 per cent of the power being generated. Our coal-fired power stations at Collie were running virtually at peak capacity, producing 1364MW or 32 per cent of the generation. Which means our fossil fuel generation was producing 90 per cent of the power the State needed to keep the lights on when the heat was on. Of the other power sources contributing at 5.55pm that day, rooftop solar was producing 90MW (2 per cent), solar farms were producing 13MW (0.3 per cent) and wind farms were producing 203MW (4.8 per cent). The big battery in Kwinana was able to add 86MW or 2 per cent at the same time. When we needed it most, gas and coal was delivering 90 per cent of our electricity and the rest of the sources the other 10 per cent. We also need to remember that at the same time the market operator was paying businesses in this State to slow down or stop production, so the demand was actually higher, and without shutting down businesses the system may have failed. Which is why I am greatly concerned at the State Government’s agenda to shut down our coal generators without building more gas generation to replace it and without building anything like enough renewable energy capacity and the concurrent transmission and storage. The Government is planning to close down all State coal generators over the next five years, losing 940MW of capacity, and they also seem determined to drive the 434MW private coal generator Bluewaters out of business. At the same time the peak demand of 4300MW today is expected to grow to over 6000MW by the energy operator, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Demand is going up as supply is being cut, which would be OK if the State Government had a reasonable and funded plan to replace and increase our generation capacity. Unfortunately, it does not. Steve Thomas is the Liberal member for the South West Region and WA’s shadow energy minister.