New Renewable Energy Projects

The national Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme has been the major driver of renewable energy project development in Western Australia since its commencement in 2001. In 2007/08, the Commonwealth Government committed to expanding the MRET scheme so that 20% of Australia’s electricity supply will come from renewable energy in 2020. It plans to finalise the design of the expanded scheme through the Council of Australian Governments in 2008. An expanded MRET scheme will be a major driver for renewable energy project development in Western Australia in future years.

In December 2007, Synergy announced it had signed supply agreements with two renewable energy project proponents.  The projects have a total installed capacity of 41.5 MW and cost over $100 million.  Both will be connected to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) — the State's main electricity grid — and are scheduled for commissioning by 2010.

N/A: Either Not Available or Not Applicable.

In February 2008, Synergy called for expressions of interest for a further 200 MW of electricity supply, including associated capacity credits and renewable energy certificates.

In September 2007, the Water Corporation also launched a tender process for the supply of at least 200 GWh per annum of electricity from renewable sources to supply its second desalination plant. 40 GWh of this can come from renewable energy technology not yet commercially proven on a large scale. Several wind and wood waste projects have been short-listed to supply the 160 GWh per annum of conventional renewable energy.

Note: The information in the tables above is estimated by the Office of Energy and is based on available data from renewable energy project proponents and government and industry organisations as at September 2008.

Innovative Developments in 2007/08

A number of new and innovative renewable energy technologies are under development in Western Australia.

Solar Energy
Funding of $4.5 million was awarded to Solar Systems under the State Government’s Low Emissions Energy Development Fund in June 2008 to assist in the construction of a $12.8 million, 1.77 MW solar concentrating power system at Kalgoorlie. Solar Systems is also seeking funding from the Commonwealth Government's Renewable Remote Power Generation Program.

A consortium led by Worley Parsons is looking to develop large scale solar thermal power stations in Western Australia and other Australian jurisdictions. Potential locations in Western Australia for a 250 MW plant are near Geraldton and the North West of the state, with plans for the first plant to be operational by 2011.

Wave Energy
Carnegie Corporation is developing its CETO wave power converter at Fremantle which has the potential to produce both renewable energy and desalinated water. Carnegie has a pilot project consisting of a small array of CETO II units in the water off Fremantle. It plans to conduct a deep sea trial in 2008-09 using a commercial sized CETO unit.

Carnegie is currently considering potential sites around the world for its first commercial scale wave energy facility, planned for commissioning in 2011. In August 2008, it was issued a five year exclusive licence to identify suitable areas for a wave energy facility off the coastline around Albany.

In May 2008 Ocean Power Technologies (Australasia) Pty Ltd (OPT), in collaboration with Griffin Energy Development Pty Ltd, announced plans to develop a joint venture wave power station off the coast of Perth’s northern suburbs using OPT’s proprietary technology, the floating PowerBuoy. The proposed installed capacity is 10 MW, with potential expansion to 100 MW in future.

In March 2008, both Carnegie Corporation and the OPT – Griffin Joint Venture were short-listed by the Water Corporation to supply 40 GWh of electricity per annum from renewable energy technology not yet commercially proven on a large scale.

Geothermal Energy
In 2007/08 the first acreage for geothermal exploration was released for the onshore Perth Basin area.  There was a strong response to the acreage release, with 64 valid bids placed covering 38 plots of land between north of Dongara to Dunsborough.  Considerable interest was expressed for areas around Eneabba, Dongara, Kwinana and Pinjarra.

In August 2008, exploration acreage covering the onshore Pilbara and Gascoyne regions was opened to bidding.  Bids for this release will be accepted until February 2009.  Exploration acreage for the Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern regions is anticipated to be opened to bidding in November 2008, with bids due by May 2009.

Also in 2007/08, the State Government opened a $2.3 million Geothermal Centre of Excellence.  The Centre is a joint venture between CSIRO, The University of Western Australia and Curtin University.  The aims of the Centre are to build capacity and knowledge within Western Australia to undertake exploration and development of geothermal resources.

Bioenergy
Western Australia Biomass’s $110 million, 40 MW plantation wood waste plant to be built near Manjimup would be the first of its kind in the State.  The plant is scheduled for operation in December 2009, providing approximately 322 GWh of energy per annum to the SWIS.

The oil mallee is a fast growing woody crop that has the potential to be used as a fuel for sustainable electricity generation.  Planting of mallees in the Western Australian Wheatbelt will also help to reduce the effects of dryland salinity.  Verve Energy successfully constructed and operated a 1 MW pilot integrated wood processing (IWP) plant at Narrogin that produced electricity, eucalyptus oil and activated carbon from oil mallee feedstock.  Using information from the demonstration plant, Verve is conducting a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) process for a commercial scale IWP plant.
 
Funding of $1.5 million was provided through the State Government’s Low Emissions Energy Development Fund to Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre for the development of an oil mallee harvester.  A harvester will lower harvesting costs, improving the viability of oil mallees as an energy feedstock. 

Wind
In August 2007, a wind/diesel power system was installed at Coral Bay at a cost of $14 million.  The three 275 kW wind turbines can be lowered to the ground to avoid damage in extreme weather conditions.
 
In June 2007, funding of $34,000 was provided through the State Government’s Sustainable Energy Development Office (SEDO) Grants program to local inventor Graeme Attey to develop a modular wind turbine system that sits neatly on a roof to generate power for a home.

For further information on geothermal energy resources, visit the Department of Industry and Resources website: http://www.doir.wa.gov.au/acreage_release.
 
Details of the national MRET scheme and its expansion can be obtained from the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change website: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/renewabletarget/index.html.

An atlas containing resource maps for all types of renewable energy resources is available from the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website: http://www.environment.gov.au/renewable/atlas. 

A Commonwealth Government compilation of operating and proposed renewable energy projects is available at http://www.ga.gov.au/renewable.

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For further information please contact the Sustainable Energy Development Office:sedo@energy.wa.gov.au

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