The Cook government will spend almost $900 million upgrading WA’s main power grid and attracting renewable energy projects to the state.

November 17, 2023

More than $700 million dollars will be spent upgrading West Australia’s main power grid so almost double the amount of renewable energy can be delivered to electricity users.

The improvements will allow about a gigawatt of new wind and solar-generated power to be pumped through the South West Interconnected System.

Premier Roger Cook says it’s the largest investment in transmission infrastructure in WA in more than 10 years.

“Growing our electricity network is critical to unlocking our renewable energy potential – to reduce our own emissions, and to help countries across the region reduce theirs,” he said on Friday.

Mr Cook said the network upgrades would create jobs and allow WA to “slash emissions by around 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year”.

The work between Geraldton and Collie includes building new transmission line infrastructure and upgrading the capacity of others.

It will enable the grid to be connected to new renewable electricity generation projects and increase output from others.

The government will also spend about $160 million on a new industrial lease incentive scheme in a bid to lure large-scale clean energy projects with a capital cost of a billion dollars or more to WA.

The scheme will provide rebates on lease fees and rent waivers for projects set up in “strategic industrial areas” that make a final investment decision by July 2028.

These include Anketell, Boodarie, Maitland, Mungari, Oakajee and Shotts industrial areas.

“Global competition to attract clean energy projects is running hot,” Mr Cook said.

“This scheme will ensure we can secure multi-billion projects that will create thousands of ongoing jobs for Western Australians in the industries of the future.”

The Cook government also plans to establish a new agency to co-ordinate new electricity infrastructure delivery, including transmission lines, renewable power generation and storage facilities.

PoweringWA will be located within the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.