This week, energy experts gathered on Australia’s west coast for the 20th annual Energy in Western Australia Conference to share industry insights and learn about new policy, regulatory, market and consumer trends.
Hosted by the Australian Institute of Energy and Energy Policy WA (Government of Western Australia), the annual event held in Perth welcomed local, national, and international speakers to provide new insights on energy challenges and opportunities in the state.
AEMO’s Executive General Manager of Western Australia (WA), Cameron Parrotte, presented on the changes, opportunities, and challenges with the rapid transformation of WA’s power system, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).
Mr Parrotte highlighted that the SWIS, like the National Electricity Market (NEM), is seeing rapid growth in renewable resources, both on a utility and consumer scale, driving new challenges associated with minimum demand and managing system security.
Strong industry collaboration is needed to help alleviate system security risks under certain conditions, such as when minimum operational demand threatens the reliable and secure supply of electricity.
This points to the importance of projects already underway, like the WA Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy.
Missed the presentation? You can view the slide pack here.
AEMO’s dedicated team in WA provides system and market operation services for the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) in the SWIS, and WA Gas Services Information.
Some of the key current WA priorities for AEMO include:
- Working on integrating utility-scale renewables and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) into the SWIS through AEMO’s WA DER Program. An initiative supporting the implementation of the WA government’s DER Roadmap, alongside industry.
- Investing in updated operational tools and implementation of rule changes to improve system and market operations, and ultimately consumer outcomes.
- Collaborating closely with the WA Government and industry to progress reforms to the WEM, ultimately delivering secure, affordable and lower carbon energy for West Australians.