Coal-fired power stations
638. Hon Dr Steve Thomas to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to the government's proposed energy transition plan that includes the closure of all coal-fired power stations by October 2029, and to the article in Business News this week that suggested the government was:
… leaving the door ajar to extend the life of coal-fired assets before the 2030 hard deadline.
The article also quoted the Minister for Energy as saying:
If that means extending slightly within that 2030 timeframe, we’ll do that …
(1) Does the government now accept that it may not be possible to close all coal-fired power generation in Western Australia by October 2029 as previously planned?
(2) Will the closure of coal generation require additional gas-fired electricity generation into the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and, if so, how much will need to be added?
(3) Does the government support any of the current proposals for additional gas-fired power generation into the SWIS and, if so, which ones?
(4) Does the updated government energy transition plan also aim to add 23 gigawatts of additional renewable energy into the SWIS, and would the estimated cost of this be $20 billion over the next 20 years?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
It is not even a Thursday and I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question!
(1) The government remains committed to retiring state-owned coal-fired power stations by 2030.
(2) Additional gas generation is part of the modelled least-cost generation mix for the South West Interconnected System.
(3) The independent energy market operator decides which proposals for additional power generation merit capacity credit revenue under their market arrangements.
(4) The South West Interconnected System transmission plan will be released by government this year.
