Since the last Committee meeting, it was agreed a workshop to strategically prioritise infrastructure planning and policy issues on an annual basis will be needed. As such, our first session will be held this Wednesday 23 February 2022 via Microsoft Teams.
Some issues that will likely develop this year include:
- Update of the WA Domestic Gas Commitment Statement
- Refresh of the Whole of System Plan to reflect climate change commitments
- DevelopmentWA’s Strategic Industrial Areas Gap Analysis
- Westport’s Economic Impact Assessment
- Release of Infrastructure WA’s State Infrastructure Strategy.
We invite interested members of the Infrastructure Reference Group, Energy Interest Group, Aviation Interest Group and Maritime Interest Group to nominate up to two representatives per company to attend and discuss what projects are important for CME to actively achieve tangible outcomes against. Please contact L.Nguyen@cmewa.com if you wish to attend.
Review into power outages announced
Further to the ongoing transformation of the WA electricity market, an independent review into power outages and Western Power’s response during the Christmas 2021 period has commenced. The report will be submitted to the Minister for Energy by 14 March.
CME envisions the report will highlight the interdependencies of the South West Interconnected System on solar PVs, low operational demand loads during peaks and gas-fired power generation sources. Late last year, AEMO published an update on renewable integration in the SWIS which noted there will be ‘periods of time enter[ing] into a zone of heightened threat due to diminished secure dispatch options prior to 2024’. It is vital that essential system services reforms are fast-tracked to prevent repeat of such outages.
In line with our policy position and submission on governance, CME will continue to advocate for greater coordination and collaboration in government on all aspects of the WA energy system. For members interested in these policy matters, please ask to join our Energy Interest Group distribution list.
