Horizon Power goes renewables-first in latest remote standalone power tender

Horizon Power wants five standalone renewable-first generators to supply power to remote towns in the north of Western Australia, and has explicitly ruled out fossil fuel-only options.

The state-owned power company is seeking the most renewables for the cheapest price, backed by either a battery or potentially a hydrogen system, to provide almost 10,000 kWh of power to 10,272 homes and businesses in Broome, Derby, Camballin/Looma, Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek. 

All of these systems must meet minimum annual renewable energy requirements, with contractors fined if their installed system can’t make the grade in any given year.

The minimum renewable supply every year for the biggest towns, Broome and Derby, is 80 per cent while the smallest energy user Camballin/Looma must have at least 44 per cent renewable supply. Fitzroy Crossing residents must have access to at least 45 per cent, and at Halls Creek the minimum is 55 per cent renewables.

But Horizon is most interested in any proposals that can help it beat those minimums over the next 5-10 years, the Expression of Interest (EOI) document says.

The 20-30 year power purchase agreement isn’t fussy about what kind of renewable energy the prospective contractor offers, with the EOI saying it could include solar, wind, biomass, “water in motion” and even geothermal.

The EOI suggests a thermal power system might be hydrogen-based, or a battery, but doesn’t rule out fossil fuels as a backup – although gas is favoured over diesel. 

The request for renewables for the five northern towns is the latest in Horizon Power’s missions to reduce the costs it has to pay in transporting and supplying diesel, in particular, to regional sites across the vast remote areas of Western Australia. 

The company won federal funding in 2021 to shift six towns onto renewable microgrids via the Midwest Centralised Solar Project.

It’s installing utility solar and battery storage systems in five Mid West towns – Cue, Meekatharra, Sandstone, Wiluna, and Yalgoo – and Norseman in the Goldfields. By late 2023 it had finished setting up Wiluna, Yalgoo and Sandstone.

The latest EOI doesn’t mention what kind of savings Horizon is expecting, but the Midwest project wants to cut $900,000 in annual fossil fuel costs.

With CSIRO, Horizon Power is trialling a demonstration hydrogen plant at the coastal town of Denham in the far north of the state, with commissioning completed by September last year and operations due to start this year. 

And last year it began testing a 78kW/220kWh battery vanadium flow battery (VFB) in Kununurra, to experiment with long duration energy storage in remote locations.

That project is testing whether the technology can handle the hot, harsh conditions of WA’s far north, and further reduce the need for expensive fossil fuel backup.