On 24 March, the Clean Energy Council (CEC) opened its Western Australia (WA) Clean Energy Summit in Perth, bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, investors and researchers to examine the WA’s growing role in Australia’s energy transition. The summit aimed to showcase Western Australia’s accelerating deployment of renewable energy and storage, alongside the policy settings enabling large-scale investment and system transformation.
Opening the event was Jackie Trad, Chief Executive Officer at CEC, who said WA is “no longer a peripheral player” but increasingly central to the national decarbonisation effort, pointing to recent policy and investment signals from the WA Government as evidence of a coordinated and strategic approach.
Her remarks followed the WA Government’s announcement that it will underwrite new renewable generation through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), supporting three wind farm projects expected to deliver around 1.15 gigawatts of new capacity into the South West Interconnected System. The developers involved include: Atmos Renewables, Foresight Group, Shell Energy Australia and Alinta Energy and Synergy.
According to Trad, this form of long-term contracting provides the certainty required to unlock capital, commence construction and enable long-term planning across the supply chain. The projects are also expected to support the state’s planned exit from coal-fired generation by 2030, while creating regional jobs and infrastructure.
WA’s energy system continues to demonstrate high levels of renewable penetration, with renewables supplying more than 90 per cent of demand in the SWIS at several points over the past year.
Trad said this performance underscores the growing role of energy storage, with large-scale batteries increasingly outcompeting gas generation during peak demand periods and system stress events.
She told delegates, noting Australia’s emergence as one of the world’s largest battery markets, alongside continued growth in rooftop solar paired with household battery systems.
“Storage is no longer a question of viability, it’s a question of scale,” Trad said.
Trad also highlighted Western Australia’s structural advantages, including abundant renewable resources, engineering capability and access to critical minerals, supported by policy mechanisms such as the state’s Clean Energy Future Fund and recent budget commitments to infrastructure investment.
She contrasted this with the more fragmented structure of the National Electricity Market on the East Coast, noting that WA’s coordinated approach is providing greater clarity and investment confidence.
The WA Clean Energy Summit also included a keynote address from Member of the Legislative Assembly of WA, Amber-Jade Sanderson, as the state continues to position itself as a clean energy powerhouse in a decarbonising global economy.
