The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CME) welcomes today’s release of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) Transmission Plan, which provides greater certainty about the location and timing of new transmission infrastructure.
CME has consistently called for a master transmission plan to allow the private sector to invest with confidence in the low-emission energy projects required to replace coal generation.
CME Director Policy and Advocacy Anita Logiudice said the blueprint provided much-needed clarity on the routes, capacity and estimated timeframes for new high-voltage transmission lines.
“The release of this plan is an important step towards unlocking investment in the new low-emission generation needed to decarbonise the SWIS,” Ms Logiudice said.
“There is a clear and welcome focus on getting electricity to WA’s Strategic Industrial Areas, including Kwinana and Kemerton, which are both heavily constrained.
Ms Logiudice stressed the need to prioritise reliability for existing and near-to-market customers above less certain future projects.
“We strongly recommend bringing forward planned augmentations at the Kemerton SIA and improving reliability of supply to the Kalgoorlie region – areas where outages are having a significant impact on both households and businesses.”
“CME is also strongly supportive of plans to release a Network Opportunities Map later this year, which should clearly illustrate where capacity exists on the transmission network today for new generation and new loads to connect.”
“It is pleasing to see recognition of the need to avoid unnecessary expenditure on transmission, since all costs will inevitably be passed on to users in the form of higher power bills.
However, the plan notably omits the expected cost of future transmission infrastructure, as well as an estimate of the total delivered cost of electricity when the rollout is complete.
“Stripping emissions from the SWIS is only part of the puzzle. Just as important is maintaining reliability and affordability throughout the transition,” Ms Logiudice said.
“The full cost of that transition includes expenditure on reliability assets like long duration batteries and gas peakers, system services to keep the grid stable and transmission infrastructure to connect generation to demand.
“The viability of practically every existing SWIS-connected industry – not to mention every new operation WA is trying to attract – relies heavily on access to affordable and reliable electricity.
“Wholesale electricity prices have already doubled since 2021 and costs are rapidly becoming unsustainable for large businesses.
“WA’s industry was built on globally competitive energy prices. If the SWIS becomes so expensive that we lose this competitive edge, there is a real risk that WA will also lose our energy-intensive industry and the high-paying local jobs it provides.
“Avoiding schedule delays, project blowouts and putting safeguards in place to ensure all infrastructure is both necessary and sensibly phased will be key to keeping future power prices under control.”
Media contacts:
Josh Zimmerman j.zimmerman@cmewa.com / 0404 947 719
Natasha Mutch n.mutch@cmewa.com / 0435 383 382