Federal government to spur major renewables expansion in Western Australia

Australia’s federal government has signed a funding package aimed at nearly trebling large scale wind and solar capacity in Western Australia, as well as boosting storage capacity in the state.

Under the agreement, signed today (Monday), the federal government will underwrite developers to generate a minimum 6.5TWh of new wind and solar output in the state as well as 1.1GW of new large-scale storage to help ensure the electricity grid remains stable, according to an announcement.

The agreement coincided with the launch of Australia’s first grid scale battery storage tender, for 500MW of capacity and 2GWh of storage.

The deal, signed by federal climate and energy minister Chris Bowen and his state equivalent Reece Whitby, was second of its kind to implement funding under the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), a federal government policy initiative aimed at lifting renewables’ share of electricity generation to 82%.

The opening of registration for Western Australia's first CIS tender will target 2GW of dispatchable capacity for the state’s wholesale electricity market.

Earlier this month, Bowen signed a deal with South Australia for 1GW of new wind and solar which can allow that state to attain 100% net renewables status.

Today's agreement with Western Australia is expected to take that state’s share of renewables to around 70%, representing a significant shift away from coal-fired power.

“This is an important day for Western Australia and our partnership that’s delivering certainty and progress, and cheap, clean reliable energy to the market and to households," stated Bowen.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor administration aims to deliver an additional 32GW of renewable generation and storage in Australia by 2030.

The first national CIS tender received more than 25GW of bids for a 6GW tender.