❓ The Minister for Energy provides an update on the state's investment in renewable energy, particularly big batteries in Collie and Kwinana, and criticises the opposition's proposal for nuclear power.
AnsweredQoN 301Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTRICITY —
DECARBONISATION
301. Ms J.L. HANNS to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's $3 billion investment in this year's budget to
address climate change and decarbonise the state's main electricity
network.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on how this funding progresses Western Australia
towards a renewable energy future, including through the use of big batteries?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of any alternative proposals to
decarbonise Western Australia's electricity grid?
DECARBONISATION
301. Ms J.L. HANNS to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's $3 billion investment in this year's budget to
address climate change and decarbonise the state's main electricity
network.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on how this funding progresses Western Australia
towards a renewable energy future, including through the use of big batteries?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of any alternative proposals to
decarbonise Western Australia's electricity grid?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for her question. I know how deeply engaged she is with Western
Australia's energy system. Representing the people of Collie, we have
to thank the people of the south west for their efforts over the last 50 to 60
years to power the state. The good news is that Collie people will continue to
power Western Australia as we transition
away from coal power because we will build a big battery down in Collie. It will have a 500-megawatt capacity and 2 000 megawatt
hours of storage, along with the existing big battery build in Kwinana, the
second stage of which we have just announced. The current battery is 100
megawatts, 200 megawatt hours, and we
are now expanding that for another 400–megawatt hour capacity, and we
are going to do 200 megawatts and 800 megawatt hours of capacity in Collie to
provide 500 megawatts of capacity across those batteries, which exceeds the
current capacity of the Muja power station.
This is an important step, along with
the other announcements we made with the Premier on the weekend for the
construction of wind farms to complement this investment in big batteries. This
is all about taking advantage of Western Australia's renewable energy
to replace our coal-fired power stations. I want to emphasise an element here. All we are doing is replacing the coal-fired
power stations. We know there is massive potential growth in demand for
electricity in Western Australia. We look forward to the private sector taking
those opportunities. The private sector is already making it clear to us that
it wants to take advantage of that. That is why we are also working through the
SWIS demand assessment to support the private sector with that massive
additional demand. This is a real step forward.
I am asked whether I am aware of any
alternatives. Of course, the Liberal Party and the Nationals WA have now set
out their agenda to use nuclear power instead of renewable energy. I am very
surprised by this. Perhaps the member for Moore can remind us exactly where
Wilbinga is. I think it is in his electorate. That
was the site chosen by Sir Charles Court's Liberal government to build
the nuclear power station that was intended to be built, and was only stopped
by the election of a Labor government in 1983. It looks like nothing changes on the other side of politics. A
policy that was rejected by the people of Western Australia in the 1980s
is being revived by them. I am really surprised that they are choosing their
own electorate as the location for these facilities—or are they saying
it is not acceptable to have them in their own electorate and they want to send
them to Collie? According to the federal National Party, the best place to put
a small nuclear reactor is where the coal-fired power stations are. In Western Australia,
that means Collie. Which location are they choosing? Are they choosing the
coast in the electorate of Moore, are they going to choose the coal-fired stations in Collie or are they saying they may be
in Kwinana, which is where the old coal-fired power station was located,
or perhaps even South Fremantle, which still has the remains of the old
coal-fired South Fremantle power station?
The National Party and the Liberal
Party need to start being honest with the people of Western Australia and tell
us where they will build these nuclear power stations that they are promising
will be built.
thank the member for her question. I know how deeply engaged she is with Western
Australia's energy system. Representing the people of Collie, we have
to thank the people of the south west for their efforts over the last 50 to 60
years to power the state. The good news is that Collie people will continue to
power Western Australia as we transition
away from coal power because we will build a big battery down in Collie. It will have a 500-megawatt capacity and 2 000 megawatt
hours of storage, along with the existing big battery build in Kwinana, the
second stage of which we have just announced. The current battery is 100
megawatts, 200 megawatt hours, and we
are now expanding that for another 400–megawatt hour capacity, and we
are going to do 200 megawatts and 800 megawatt hours of capacity in Collie to
provide 500 megawatts of capacity across those batteries, which exceeds the
current capacity of the Muja power station.
This is an important step, along with
the other announcements we made with the Premier on the weekend for the
construction of wind farms to complement this investment in big batteries. This
is all about taking advantage of Western Australia's renewable energy
to replace our coal-fired power stations. I want to emphasise an element here. All we are doing is replacing the coal-fired
power stations. We know there is massive potential growth in demand for
electricity in Western Australia. We look forward to the private sector taking
those opportunities. The private sector is already making it clear to us that
it wants to take advantage of that. That is why we are also working through the
SWIS demand assessment to support the private sector with that massive
additional demand. This is a real step forward.
I am asked whether I am aware of any
alternatives. Of course, the Liberal Party and the Nationals WA have now set
out their agenda to use nuclear power instead of renewable energy. I am very
surprised by this. Perhaps the member for Moore can remind us exactly where
Wilbinga is. I think it is in his electorate. That
was the site chosen by Sir Charles Court's Liberal government to build
the nuclear power station that was intended to be built, and was only stopped
by the election of a Labor government in 1983. It looks like nothing changes on the other side of politics. A
policy that was rejected by the people of Western Australia in the 1980s
is being revived by them. I am really surprised that they are choosing their
own electorate as the location for these facilities—or are they saying
it is not acceptable to have them in their own electorate and they want to send
them to Collie? According to the federal National Party, the best place to put
a small nuclear reactor is where the coal-fired power stations are. In Western Australia,
that means Collie. Which location are they choosing? Are they choosing the
coast in the electorate of Moore, are they going to choose the coal-fired stations in Collie or are they saying they may be
in Kwinana, which is where the old coal-fired power station was located,
or perhaps even South Fremantle, which still has the remains of the old
coal-fired South Fremantle power station?
The National Party and the Liberal
Party need to start being honest with the people of Western Australia and tell
us where they will build these nuclear power stations that they are promising
will be built.
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