❓ Dr. Thomas seeks clarification on WA's power generation data, questioning discrepancies in renewable energy production and the impact of Muja power station closures. The Minister provides further details on Synergy and Horizon Power's generation, distributed energy purchases, and factors affecting future coal-fired generation.
AnsweredQoN 203Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to question without notice 297, asked on 17 June 2021 and answered on 22 June 2021, and I ask: (a) does the table presented in the answer represent all State Government power generation in Western Australia; (b) if no to (a), what does it represent; (c) given the question asked for the output of "each Synergy generation plant" will the Minister now provide the output for each individual plant as asked; (d) why has renewable energy production dropped from 98 GWh in 2017-2018 to under 6 GWh in each following year; and (e) given that coal fuel energy production has dropped by 24 per cent over two year from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, what is the expected drop in production by 2025 given the announced closure of two Muja power station units?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
19 August 2021
Responded by
Minister for Regional Development representing the Minister for Energy
Response time
9 days
1.
(a) No
(b) The table presented in response to question without notice 297 represents electricity generated by Synergy-owned generation facilities.
State Government-owned Horizon Power also owns generation facilities. In 2018-19, these facilities produced 73 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, compared with Synergy’s 6,461 GWh.
(c) [See tabled paper no ] which provides the annual output from each Synergy generation facility. This information is publicly available at http://data.wa.aemo.com.au/
(d) This information reflects the adjustments to Synergy owned assets, but does not include the 3,416 GWh of distributed energy purchased by Synergy over this period of time.
(e) The two Muja C units scheduled for closure (MUJA_G5 and MUJA_G6) accounted for 38% of Synergy’s coal-fired generation output in 2020-21. However, it is unclear what the impact of the closure of Muja C on total coal-fired generation output will be in 2025, as this will be affected by many factors including the overall level of operational demand, the competitiveness of Synergy’s remaining coal-fired generation facilities and the availability and price of other generation sources including rooftop solar output.
Notes:
(a) No
(b) The table presented in response to question without notice 297 represents electricity generated by Synergy-owned generation facilities.
State Government-owned Horizon Power also owns generation facilities. In 2018-19, these facilities produced 73 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, compared with Synergy’s 6,461 GWh.
(c) [See tabled paper no ] which provides the annual output from each Synergy generation facility. This information is publicly available at http://data.wa.aemo.com.au/
(d) This information reflects the adjustments to Synergy owned assets, but does not include the 3,416 GWh of distributed energy purchased by Synergy over this period of time.
(e) The two Muja C units scheduled for closure (MUJA_G5 and MUJA_G6) accounted for 38% of Synergy’s coal-fired generation output in 2020-21. However, it is unclear what the impact of the closure of Muja C on total coal-fired generation output will be in 2025, as this will be affected by many factors including the overall level of operational demand, the competitiveness of Synergy’s remaining coal-fired generation facilities and the availability and price of other generation sources including rooftop solar output.
Notes:
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