Authorities say a paradigm shift is occurring in WA’s power system. 

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) says that accelerating investment in new renewable generation and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) in Western Australia (WA) is driving a paradigm shift in the power system, presenting both exciting opportunities and new operational challenges.

One in three homes in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) now have rooftop solar installed, and AEMO figures suggest rooftop and large-scale commercial solar systems will reach around 40 per cent of total generation capacity by 2030-31.

“This is a profound transformation that calls for the highest levels of collaboration across the WA energy system – amongst market bodies, policy makers, industry participants and consumer groups,” says AEMO’s CEO and Managing Director, Daniel Westerman. 

“As the energy transition unfolds, AEMO is committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders to implement the WA Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy, to ensure WA households and businesses are the beneficiaries of secure, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy.

“It is pleasing that AEMO’s analysis in the 2021 WEM ESOO confirms sufficient generation capacity to meet forecast demand in the SWIS over the next decade” Mr Westerman added.

AEMO’s WA Executive General Manager, Cameron Parrotte, says that as the shift towards variable generators and uptake of distributed solar continues, authorities are encountering new challenges associated with minimum demand and managing system security issues. 

This includes maintaining voltage, system strength, and inertia standards. New standards, system services, and regulatory arrangements are required to keep the power system secure and reliable.

“AEMO is supportive of innovative solutions to help address these challenges, pointing to the importance of projects already underway, like the WA Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy, to help alleviate system security risks under certain conditions such as when minimum operational demand is low,” Mr Parrotte said.

“AEMO will continue to collaborate with consumers, industry and government to develop new standards and to support cost-effective regulatory and market reforms required to ensure consumer expectations for reliable, secure, sustainable and affordable energy are being addressed.”