❓ The Minister for Energy provides an update on the Kwinana Power Station, announcing its closure will be brought forward to April 2015 due to economic factors and structural adjustments in the electricity industry. The closure will impact employment and reduce capacity in the southwest interconnected system.
AnsweredQoN 690Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
KWINANA POWER STATION
690. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the
Minister for Energy:
I acknowledge in the Speaker's
gallery today the students and staff of Trinity College, which is in the member
for Perth's electorate.
Could the Minister for Energy update
the house on the status of the Kwinana power station?
690. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the
Minister for Energy:
I acknowledge in the Speaker's
gallery today the students and staff of Trinity College, which is in the member
for Perth's electorate.
Could the Minister for Energy update
the house on the status of the Kwinana power station?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the query,
which is about an important matter. The Kwinana power station is probably our
oldest and was at one time our largest operating power station. It was first
opened in the 1970s and expanded in three phases—A, B and C. When all
three phases were operating, it produced 900 megawatts of electricity. It was
easily our largest power station. In a unique aspect of our energy history, it
is designed to operate on three different fuels—that is, diesel, gas
and coal. In going back a little in history, for a long time there was
uncertainty in both the price and quantity of fuel supply to the state. When
the power station first started to be built, the aim was to diversify away from
coal. It went to diesel and, of course, the world petrol crisis hit, so the
power station then went to gas. It has been a long operating plant. The first
phase, A, closed down in 2011 and B closed down in 2008. There are six
operating units in C, some of which have closed, and last year I announced that
the whole plant would close down in October 2015. Last week, the chief executive
officer of Synergy, which owns and operates the plant, announced that the last
operating unit of Kwinana C will close down six months early, in April 2015.
That will bring to an end one of our longest serving plants—a plant
that played a major role in our history. Its closure will reduce capacity in
the south west interconnected system by about 184 megawatts, thereby reducing
excess capacity. That closure has been brought forward because the repair and
maintenance of these old plants was accelerating and the revenue, particularly
from the sale of electricity, was declining, so it made a lot of sense. It
shows that the government is committed to making structural adjustments in the
electricity industry, saving money and also closing down old plant.
There will be some employment
implications. About 100 people are working at the plant now. I might add that
with 100 people, there is a lot of slack in there, but the plant also provides
services for two other electricity generating plants—the
high-efficiency gas turbine and the Cockburn power station, which are both gas
powered—and shares some of the facilities, particularly water and
effluent distribution. Some of the 100 people will remain to service those
other power stations, but there will also be a chance for the residual of those
100 people to move to other power stations if need be. This is a sign that one
of the central planks of the electricity industry in Western Australia has come
to an end. It is pulling capacity out of the market and we are undertaking
another step along the structural change to the electricity industry in Western
Australia.
which is about an important matter. The Kwinana power station is probably our
oldest and was at one time our largest operating power station. It was first
opened in the 1970s and expanded in three phases—A, B and C. When all
three phases were operating, it produced 900 megawatts of electricity. It was
easily our largest power station. In a unique aspect of our energy history, it
is designed to operate on three different fuels—that is, diesel, gas
and coal. In going back a little in history, for a long time there was
uncertainty in both the price and quantity of fuel supply to the state. When
the power station first started to be built, the aim was to diversify away from
coal. It went to diesel and, of course, the world petrol crisis hit, so the
power station then went to gas. It has been a long operating plant. The first
phase, A, closed down in 2011 and B closed down in 2008. There are six
operating units in C, some of which have closed, and last year I announced that
the whole plant would close down in October 2015. Last week, the chief executive
officer of Synergy, which owns and operates the plant, announced that the last
operating unit of Kwinana C will close down six months early, in April 2015.
That will bring to an end one of our longest serving plants—a plant
that played a major role in our history. Its closure will reduce capacity in
the south west interconnected system by about 184 megawatts, thereby reducing
excess capacity. That closure has been brought forward because the repair and
maintenance of these old plants was accelerating and the revenue, particularly
from the sale of electricity, was declining, so it made a lot of sense. It
shows that the government is committed to making structural adjustments in the
electricity industry, saving money and also closing down old plant.
There will be some employment
implications. About 100 people are working at the plant now. I might add that
with 100 people, there is a lot of slack in there, but the plant also provides
services for two other electricity generating plants—the
high-efficiency gas turbine and the Cockburn power station, which are both gas
powered—and shares some of the facilities, particularly water and
effluent distribution. Some of the 100 people will remain to service those
other power stations, but there will also be a chance for the residual of those
100 people to move to other power stations if need be. This is a sign that one
of the central planks of the electricity industry in Western Australia has come
to an end. It is pulling capacity out of the market and we are undertaking
another step along the structural change to the electricity industry in Western
Australia.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.