Energy projects hit by big delays in Western Power approval as lobby group hits out at poor planning

New energy projects needed to help the State avoid an alarming shortage of power are battling to secure crucial approvals to connect to the grid. The warning from the Australian Energy Council comes as WA’s main South West network needs a huge influx of investment to prepare for the shutdown of Government-owned coal power stations by 2030. A report funded by the industry lobby group to be released on Friday also warns the Government’s long term demand assessment published in May 2023 “lacked credibility” for investors. That assessment was developed by the Government’s Energy Policy WA office, and forecast an extraordinary 4000 kilometres of new power lines would be needed on the main grid by 2042. AEC’s report slams the assessment as “opaque and ad hoc”, adding the projections were drastically different to the Government’s previous plan released less than three years prior. The Government needed a single clear plan to ensure investors could be confident in building new generating assets, AEC said. The lobby group’s report — authored by consultancy Oakley Greenwood — said businesses hoping to develop power stations were hitting a hurdle when they ask Government utility Western Power for permission to connect to the system. The number of applications to Western Power lifted as much as 63 per cent over five years, the report said. But only one in 20 access requests were ultimately green-lit. The process could take as long as five years, AEC claimed. Chief Executive Sarah McNamara said new generation was urgently needed but connection approvals were a bottleneck for investors. “There are big issues and there’s no time to waste,” Ms McNamara said. She said a clear, central plan for new transmission and action to speed up connections would be the “highest priority” for the State to hit its decarbonisation agenda. “Investors trying to bring new renewables along with dispatchable projects, like gas plants and batteries, onto the grid have been facing significant hurdles,” she said. “Those hurdles are making it challenging for new projects to be online in time to meet the State’s ambitious decarbonisation agenda.” The AEC report recommended allowing applicants to pay a premium for quicker service, helping focus resources on the most viable projects. A spokesman for the State Government said Western Power would enable third party-led design and construction of infrastructure, standardise work packages, and reviewed the connection process. That would significantly reduce timeframes, he said. Western Power had received enquiries to connect about 1 gigawatt of new capacity, the spokesman said, which is roughly equal to a quarter of supply on a peak day. He said the Government had pledged $708m for additional network investment, funding a new northern transmission line and upgrades around key industrial areas including Kwinana and Collie. “The State Government is now working with industrial users on a network investment strategy, which will include mechanisms for industry contributions and third-party investments,” the spokesman said. “That work will determine how best to split the costs of investing in a State-owned network so that household energy consumers don’t carry the expense of industry’s green energy demands.” On Wednesday, the Government moved to speed up Western Power connections for land developers. Shadow Energy Minister Steve Thomas said the private sector should have greater involvement in assessing applications and the Government needed to fix a convoluted and inefficient system.