Western Australia (WA) has allocated $502 million (US$331 million) of funding to expedite the state’s goals of a cleaner, affordable, and reliable energy future.
According to Premier Roger Cook, the fund will open up strategic industrial areas statewide to attract major clean industries to WA, including Latitude 32 in Kwinana, Karratha, the Peel region, the Goldfields, and South West.
The funding includes a further $324 million investment that will enable the extensive planning and procurement of long-lead transmission infrastructure for the state’s main electricity network, which is expected to boost industry growth, job-generating renewable energy projects, and renewable energy use.
The same funding will support Western Power, which oversees the electricity network in WA’s most populated area, in continuing to assess and develop potential Clean Energy Link transmission projects that will contribute to meeting renewable generation demand in the state.
It will also allow Western Power to begin planning and scoping for essential network enhancement options for the South West Interconnected System’s northern, central, and eastern corridors.
Meanwhile, the Cook government has earmarked $147.6 million to support the development of common user network infrastructure in the North West Interconnected System in the Pilbara region that will help the state embark on new opportunities for clean energy.
“The energy transition is the biggest economic transformation in decades, and my government is grasping the opportunity with both hands,” Mr. Cook said.
Other new investments include funding for the deployment of standalone power systems, rebuilding the Blackstone remote community’s power station, and purchasing existing power station assets in select communities.
Australia’s Economic Powerhouse
Total energy transition investments in WA’s 2024-25 state budget amount to more than $5.4 billion.“I’m committed to seeing WA become a renewable energy powerhouse,” Energy Minister Reece Whitby said. “This investment will support the investigation, consultation and planning needed to ensure our state can reap the benefits and economic opportunities of the global energy transition.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasised that WA is one of the powerhouses that drive the nation’s economic strength.
The prime minister also reiterated Resources Minister Madeleine King’s sentiment that WA possesses the resources needed in the pursuit of the net zero ambition.
“We know that making more solar panels, batteries and clean energy technology means exploring and extracting more lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, critical minerals and rare earths. These are the ingredients of the next big minerals boom and my government is working to make it easier to find more and meet the world’s appetite for them,” Mr. Albanese said.
Earlier, the state government said it is investing $36.4 million to reduce green tape and speed up approvals as part of its ambitious reform agenda for job-creating projects, such as green energy projects.
“We’re really keen to reduce delays in getting new projects off the ground, which will help us remain the engine room of the national economy while also diversifying and setting it up for the future,” WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti said.
However, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) said that while WA is the best performing state in terms of having the lowest energy price hikes, it is also concerning that its government is replacing affordable and reliable energy supply with unreliable and expensive renewables, similar to Victoria.
“Western Australia’s budget demonstrates the benefits of pragmatic economic management. However, examples from the east coast, particularly Victoria, are a lesson to avoid repeating in the West, where profligate spending, flawed energy policies and locking up natural resources have cruelled local economies,” Daniel Wild, IPA Deputy Executive Director, said.
“For Western Australia to remain prosperous, is it crucial that the state government continues to value and promote its resources sector and avoids repeating the mistakes that have been made in failing states like Victoria.”
