- Additional power supply to be procured following mid-January outages caused by freak supercell thunderstorm
- Western Power to lead process seeking 150 megawatts of reliability services and additional system strength services
- Procurement process one of many actions taken by Cook Government since mid-January outages
The Cook Government is improving the reliability of electricity supply in the Goldfields following a freak supercell thunderstorm in mid-January that caused unprecedented damage to Western Power’s network.
Following extended outages that affected parts of regional Western Australia earlier this year, the Coordinator of Energy has determined Western Power should commence a Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services (NCESS) procurement process for up to 150 megawatts of reliability services and additional system strength services for the Goldfields region.
The NCESS framework was established as part of the State Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy published in 2022.
It enables the Australian Energy Market Operator, Western Power, or the Coordinator of Energy to identify the need for services not already available through existing market mechanisms and procure them in a transparent and efficient manner.
The move follows a series of actions taken by the State Government following the mid-January outages, including:
- Doubling the Extended Outage Payment for affected customers;
- Requesting a review of electricity supply reliability be conducted by Energy Policy WA, Synergy and Western Power; and
- Requesting a network resilience package be drawn up by Energy Policy WA.
Western Power will now commence the NCESS procurement process with additional generation expected to be available by 2026.
As stated by Energy Minister Reece Whitby:
“The Cook Government is committed to enhancing the reliability and security of power supply in the Goldfields region.
“The procurement process will seek to encourage development and deployment of innovative non-network solutions to maintain reliable supply to the Goldfields and meet customer expectations for increased renewable energy in the South West Interconnected System.”
As stated by Kalgoorlie MLA Ali Kent:
“I am very grateful the Cook Government is focussing on power supply for Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
“The area’s energy supply today is impacted by elements that weren’t around years ago.
“I’m proud to be part of a government that is tackling this important issue head on.”
