Western Australia (WA) has announced that all state-owned coal-fired power stations in WA will be retired by 2030 due to the large-scale uptake of rooftop solar across the state.
The 340-megawatt power station in the southwestern town of Collie will shut its doors in late 2027, while the nearby 854-megawatt Muja complex will see a gradual closure of its facility, with full closure by 2029.
According to a WA government media release on Tuesday, the state’s electricity system is being increasingly challenged by the widespread uptake of rooftop solar, forcing energy generator and retailer Synergy to offload excess power during the day at a loss, as well as add extra maintenance and generation costs, which are borne by taxpayers.
Premier Mark McGowan said on Tuesday that the current electricity system is becoming unsustainable.
“Maintaining the status quo would see average yearly household power bills increase by over $1,200 within eight years,” he said.
“Alternatively, taxpayers would have to spend billions subsidising the system, taking funding away from key government projects and services.”
It is estimated that taxpayers would have to fork out around $3 billion (US$2 billion) if Synergy’s ongoing losses were to be subsidised until 2029-30, so to address this, the state’s energy generation system will be gradually transitioned to the use of renewables—a process the government assures will not be at the expense of electricity reliability and affordability.
“Western Australia will implement a sensible, managed transition to a greater use of renewables for electricity generation while ensuring we maintain electricity reliability as a priority,” McGowan said.
The transition will involve an investment of approximately $3.8 billion in new green power infrastructure in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), including wind generation and storage.
In addition, Synergy and Water Corporation are currently analysing the feasibility of a pumped hydro project forming part of its storage needs, with Synergy also investigating the potential use of hydrogen to power gas generation assets.
State Energy Minister Bill Johnston called the new investment in the SWIS “an extraordinary investment in the future of our electricity system”.
“We will be working closely with impacted businesses, workers and communities to ensure we create new jobs and training opportunities to future-proof Collie for the coming decades,” he said.
Towards this end, the government has announced a Collie Transition Package, which includes a $200 million investment to expand the skills of and create training opportunities for the 1,200 workers who will lose their jobs but could potentially move across to the new industries.
WA Opposition and Nationals leader Mia Davies said on Tuesday that whoever is in government has been having conversations with industry and the community in Collie about this transition for some time.
“And the community is very well aware at some point that those coal-fired power stations would be closed,” she said.
“It'll be up to the government with its resources and opportunity with the numbers it has in parliament to make sure that the community is transitioned the best way possible.”
Meanwhile, WA Liberal leader David Honey stressed that other industries will need to be relocated to Collie to provide enough jobs to make up for those lost from the coal industry.
“We need to understand the detail behind the jobs that will replace those lost due to the closure of the Collie power stations, rather than broad training programs,” he said.
