Interview with Simon Beaumont, Radio 6PR Perth Today

SIMON BEAUMONT (HOST): Joining me on the show now is the Assistant Manager for – Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Member for Fremantle, Josh Wilson. G'day, Josh, how are you?

JOSH WILSON: I'm good, Simon. How are you going?

BEAUMONT: Very well. Thanks. We are getting some new renewables kit in Western Australia, some funding and some tenders are available. What's it for?

WILSON: Yeah, it's all part of the Capacity Investment Scheme, which is the way the Australian Government is going to deliver on our 82% renewable energy by 2030 target. We've got to see 40 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation between now and then. This is part of the Western Australian aspect of the program, two new tenders, 1.6 gigawatts of renewable generation and 2.4 gigawatts of dispatchable energy, or storage. We've already delivered the first tender, which was focused on storage, and there were four big batteries announced as part of that. Western Australia is the leading big battery jurisdiction in the country, partly because we're a standalone grid. And these two new tenders under the CIS the capacity investment scheme will keep WA on that path to cheaper, cleaner, self-reliant energy.

BEAUMONT: So, Josh in practical terms, a couple of things. Where are the four big batteries at the moment, they're ex-Metro, I think, aren't they?

WILSON: Yeah, the four big battery locations are Boddington, Merredin, Muchea and Waroona. They will be delivered by 2027, and they will provide power to 600,000 households for up to four hours, helping us at that evening peak. The challenge for us in WA is we're blessed with abundant solar energy and fantastic wind resources, and at various times of the day, we have much more renewable energy than we can use. So, when we get that kind of battery storage, big batteries, community batteries, household batteries, we soak it up and we redeploy it at that peak time.

BEAUMONT: So, what's this new money for Josh? I'm a bit confused. What is this to connect, connect those batteries to the grid? What's this new dough for?

WILSON: No, these are two new rounds that will both support additional renewable energy generation and additional storage. The Capacity Investment Scheme proceeds through a series of stages here in WA and elsewhere, making sure that we're getting the renewable energy coming online with the storage to support it. So that first tender that we announced earlier in the year was focused on storage, and these two new tenders that I'm literally announcing on your program help cover more renewable energy and more storage, $4 billion worth of private investment that just keep the development of our standalone grid here in Western Australia on that path – cheaper and cleaner energy for WA, households and businesses.

BEAUMONT: We turn coal off in this state at a state level in 2030 I thought from memory, Josh and we are transitioning into renewables. Who could apply for this money, for these tenders?

WILSON: Well, they're renewable energy investors, companies that want to be part of that transition, and they will, in some cases, do standalone renewable projects. It could be large scale solar or wind. In some cases, standalone storage projects, but we have seen a number of what we call hybrid projects that combine the two. Australia wide, so far we've executed, as a government, 19 agreements through this sort of tender process, as I described before. We've gone down that path with the four big battery projects were announced earlier in the year. We now open the tender processes, which is a competitive process. Obviously, government wants private sector to bid in with and then we choose the best projects to develop, settle agreements and then see delivered in advance of that timetable that you described, because around Australia, and certainly here in WA, coal-fired power is coming out. Coal-fired power is getting more expensive and unreliable. The operators don't want to keep those generators going, and that's what we are preparing for.

BEAUMONT: And just on a related topic, if I may, The Australian are reporting today that nature positive, that that phrase looks like Senator Watt, who's now the environment minister. This is related to your portfolio. He's doing away with nature positive, by the sounds of things. Is that okay with you?

WILSON: I saw the story. I mean, I think it's sounds like it's a bit more of a terminological thing, and I'm not sure how much difference it makes what particular phrase you use. Minister Watt is doing a fantastic job, working very hard to focus on delivering a new and better National Environmental Protection framework, and we really need that. The previous government was that in no uncertain terms by the independent reviewer, that they appointed, Dr Graham Samuel, but unfortunately didn't do anything about it. We we're not going to allow that to be the case. Australia needs an effective environmental protection framework. We need it here in Western Australia. We're the biggest state. We're home to some incredible environmental treasures, whether that's Ningaloo Reef or the Greater Western Woodland – it's the largest temperate forest left on planet Earth – the South West Biodiversity Hot Spot. We need an effective protection framework, and Minister Watt is intent on delivering that, and we can do that in a way that gets us the environmental and biodiversity outcomes we need, but is also a more transparent and straightforward system, which is what proponents of every kind say they want. They don't mind if the system can give them a response and say, ‘look, no that project or that particular approach isn't consistent with protecting environmental condition and biodiversity,’ but they need it in a more straightforward and timely way. And we're pretty sure we can deliver those things and Minister Watt’s working very hard on that. 

BEAUMONT: Josh, you're the Member for Fremantle. A lot of people live in Freo don't like Woodside. We need gas domestically and for export. Where do you stand on potentially further extending Woodside's contract up at the Burrup?

WILSON: Well, Woodside is like anyone in the resources game. They pursue projects that make a contribution from an energy point of view, domestically and in our region, but they need to do that in keeping with the things we want to see happen on the climate front, on an emissions reduction front that's dealt with under the Safeguard Mechanism. And obviously all projects need to conform to our environmental regulations, state and federal. I understand community concern around projects that that have environmental impact and impacts, frankly, on First Nations heritage. And the expectation that my community has is that those will be applied rigorously. And the broader expectation goes to what I was just saying. They understand that the framework we've been applying isn't effective, and they want to see that reformed, and we're absolutely focused on doing that.

BEAUMONT: Josh, thanks for talking to us today. I understand it is new news to our listeners. We'll make sure our newsroom knows about this, the CIS the capacity investment strategy. This these tenders are available from when, or this money's available from when.

WILSON: The tenders will open now. They'll be open for a period of 10 weeks. Investors then pitch in with their bids, the projects that they have an interest in, and then it goes forward from there to the point where ultimately you see Capacity Investment Scheme agreements achieved. As I say, there are 19 that have been concluded nationwide to date. We've seen some good progress on battery projects here in WA but this is all just part of a sensible and well-managed evolution to the energy system that we should have going forward. We have this incredible comparative advantage. We should be, and can be, a renewable energy superpower and a clean industry powerhouse, and WA will be a leading jurisdiction in that game.

BEAUMONT: All right, thanks for talking to us. Josh. You're going to the football next weekend?

WILSON: I don't know. I'm pretty nervous about it. When I flew across to parliament the other day I missed the game in its entirety, which was probably better for the nerves. I was very grateful to see the Dockers get up after the experience last year. I thought they played fantastically well. And I think Justin Longmuir has shown great leadership, and also great forbearance sometimes, considering the media pressure that he's put out. But you know, if you're a Freo supporter, it's a great time to be alive. It's a dynamic team. It's fantastic that Nat Fyfe is still part of it, but we also get to see the emergence of players like Murphy Read and I'm sure I'm going to be enjoying watching Murphy Read for the next decade.

BEAUMONT: Yeah, hope so. Well, good luck, and thanks for chatting to us and our listeners this morning. Appreciate your time.

WILSON: No worries. Thanks. Simon.