Ten Western Australian projects amounting to 1.9 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation and 3.68GWh of battery storage will receive financial underwriting from Federal and WA Governments.
Six onshore wind farms, three battery energy storage systems (BESS) and one solar–battery hybrid, all located in WA, were selected as part of Tender 5 and 6 of the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS).
Three Neoen Australia assets were recognised, including the Yathroo and Narrogin wind farms, and the Yathroo BESS.
Elsewhere, Atmos Renewables’ Parron Maam Maran wind farm will receive CIS underwriting, along with Synergy’s Tathra wind farm and Tilt Renewables’ Waddi wind farm, with Trina Solar’s Killawarra hybrid project the only solar asset receiving support.
The Enpowered’s Collie BESS and Frontier Energy’s Waroona renewable energy project were the other battery projects recognised.
The assets, which represent $5 billion in new energy infrastructure investment, are expected to generate enough electricity to power more than one million WA households, with 400,000 households to benefit from four hours of utility-scale BESS dispatch during peak demand.
“This is the biggest electricity boost in WA’s history and is exactly what the Capacity Investment Scheme was designed to deliver,” Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said.
“WA’s energy system is changing, and the Albanese Government is making sure that change means more reliability, more investment, more jobs and lower bills and emissions.”
Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson said this was a “historic investment”.
“The success of these tenders demonstrates a strong pipeline of renewable energy projects in Western Australia, particularly for onshore wind,” he said.
“We’ve already seen renewable generation reach 46.1 per cent in the WEM (Western Energy Market) between January and March, which is more than 5 per cent higher than the same period last year. This will drive WA’s renewable energy capacity to the next level.”
Seventy-five projects have received CIS endorsement to this point, translating to 13GW of renewable generation and 21.6GWh of battery storage capacity.
Subscribe to Energy and discover all you need to know about the energy transition.
