Big boost to reliable renewables in WA with upcoming Capacity Investment Scheme

The Albanese Government is delivering more reliable, renewable energy for West Australian households and businesses with the Capacity Investment Scheme.

Consultation on the design features of the scheme, to suit the unique WA energy grid, opens today and runs until April 29.

The first WA tender will target 500MW of reliable renewables by storing power that is available to dispatch when needed, enough to power 450, 000 homes, subject to consultation and final agreement.

This 500MW round kicks off the national Capacity Investment Scheme in WA and will be open to applications mid-year.

The Capacity Investment Scheme is delivering 32 GW of new renewable capacity across Australia to 2030, transforming Australia’s energy system to a reliable 82% renewable grid, supported by gas, storage and transmission.

Our Reliable Renewable plans with states and territories (Renewable Energy Transformation Agreements) are about unlocking and fast-tracking investments in individual states while ensuring a reliable grid.

Once the Commonwealth and WA reach final agreement on the Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement, including reliability benchmarks and addressing barriers to new capacity, 2.3 GW of variable renewables and 1.1 GW of dispatchable renewables will be unlocked in WA.

The rain doesn’t always fall, but we store water for when we need it – our Reliable Renewables plan does the same thing for clean, cheap renewable energy.

The WA investment will help boost more affordable, reliable energy as aging and increasingly unreliable coal-fired power stations close in coming years.

Australia has some of the world’s best renewable resources.

And our energy plan is the only one that embraces the advice from experts like CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to deliver the cleanest, cheapest, and most reliable energy system to meet Australia’s energy needs in coming decades.

The consultation on the WA CIS design paper can be found here, and provides information on CIS implementation, including target sizes of investment rounds, tender process, proposed underwriting arrangements and merit criteria, including around local industry and employment benefits and First Nations engagement.

Comments from Climate Change and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen:

“We’re getting on with the job of boosting affordable, reliable, renewable power for Western Australians, where and when they need it. That’s exactly what this imminent investment round is all about.

“The Coalition wasted a decade undermining new renewable generation and infighting, and now they want to gamble our energy security on risky reactors, which are too slow to keep Australia’s lights on.

“Families and businesses across Western Australia deserve a plan backed by the experts, not Dutton’s plan to leave them in the dark.”