Local utility gets green light to replace remote town’s diesel and gas power with a solar-battery hybrid

The federal EPBC has waved through one of a series of renewable energy projects being built to wean Western Australia’s remote towns off diesel fuel generation and power them with various combinations of solar and-or wind and battery storage.

The Halls Creek Future Energy System will see the east Kimberley town powered by 4 megawatts (MW) of solar, a 2 MW, 2 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery, and a new gas power station of up 4 MW.

This will replace diesel generators and an EDL-owned gas power station.

The EPBC decision to wave through the project, declaring it not a controlled action, took just three months from when it was referred for assessment by the WA government-owned utility, Horizon Power. 

“Many towns in the Kimberley are powered by high emission fossil fuels such as diesel and gas. In Halls Creek, Horizon Power currently purchases power from an independent power producer,” the referral to the EPBC says.

“The power purchase agreement (PPA) is due to expire, providing Horizon Power with an opportunity to integrate grid-scale renewable electricity into the town supply.”

The next two years will see final approvals and design work leading up to a final investment decision, before construction in 2028, the project website says. 

The project is pencilled in to go live in either 2029 or 2030. 

The new electricity generator will be built about 3 km south-west of the town at Halls Creek, with a new 3km underground network connection to the existing power station. 

The new thermal power station would be built next to the site of the existing power station as well.

Halls Creek is one of seven projects in the Horizon Power network that it’s dubbed a “future energy system” project. 

These include replacing ageing wind turbines at Hopetoun and Coral Bay, one on the southern-most coastline of the state and the other facing the Ningaloo reef in the north, to the replacement of diesel and gas in more remote towns such as Derby and Fitzroy Crossing. 

Horizon Power is planning to have the five Kimberley projects wrapped up by 2030, according to the company’s website.

The move towards bulk renewable energy to power towns comes as First Nations groups are asking Horizon Power, other retailers and grid operators, and northern governments to start taking heatwave protections seriously.

Horizon Power declined to respond to specific questions about a heatwave trial from Renew Economy.

It already has an option of a temporary moratorium on disconnections during emergencies, but it’s unclear whether heatwaves fall under this category.

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