Energy

The federal government should offer Western Australia funding for power storage projects in proportion to its spending in the east, Energy Minister Bill Johnston says, while moves to introduce reserve capacity auctions and retail contestability locally are off his agenda.

Zenith Energy has reported a substantial decrease in first-half profit as it undergoes a transition, a week after local rival Pacific Energy delivered strong half-year results.

The state government has today announced the rollout of $8.8 million of stand-alone power systems, with Perth-based companies Hybrid Systems and BayWA r.e Solar Systems to lead the first stage of deployment.

AGL Energy has continued its growth in the Western Australian gas market, revealing it had approximately 33,000 customers by the end of 2018, a rise of 12,000 from six months prior.

Gold Fields has awarded Aggreko a contract to construct and operate a microgrid with 20,000 solar panels and battery storage, which will be integrated with the existing natural gas power supply to reduce fuel consumption at the Granny Smith gold mine near Laverton.

Sumitomo Corporation has grown its presence in Western Australia’s retail power market with the acquisition of Infinite Energy, its first investment in a distributed grid business and a move beyond its local coal and gas-focused portfolio.

Local blockchain company Power Ledger has announced a partnership with Japan-based solar panel provider Sharing Energy.

Wind and solar generation backed by storage are competitive with coal and gas, according to a recent report by the CSIRO, but that does not mean coal-fired generation will be out of the picture.

Proponents of a $400 million waste to energy facility to be built in East Rockingham are hoping to get construction under way within months after finalising a waste supply deal with utilities giant Suez.