Energy

Horizon Power has awarded contracts to CPS National and Contract Power Group for the construction of a solar farm and battery storage in Onslow.

The state government has signed off on a $16.8 million Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan for the stage two expansion of Onslow Marine Support Base, located at Beadon Creek and operated by Kuwait-based Agility Logistics.

Sydney-based utility APA Group will expand its 130-megawatt wind farm project at Badgingarra to include a 17.5 megawatt solar farm, after extending a power purchasing agreement with Alinta Energy.

Moves to encourage downstream lithium processing in Western Australia continued today, with the state government announcing a taskforce to develop a strategy for the sector.

Interest is growing in Kwinana as a possible battery manufacturing hub, with Wesfarmers mooted to be considering a move into the sector and representatives from US electric car manufacturer Tesla in Perth to meet with Premier Mark McGowan today.

Global company Schneider Electric anticipates continued strong trading in Western Australia, helped by work on established resources projects, new lithium developments and its Clipsal business.

Recent comments by Tesla's Elon Musk, and his company's price dive immediately after, will be of interest to the state's lithium miners.

AGL has knocked back Alinta Energy's $250 million offer to buy Liddell Power Station and reaffirmed its decision to close the plant in 2022.

Two groups aspiring to build gas processing projects on the Burrup Peninsula are aiming to fare better than many others have in the environmentally sensitive area.

A former Horizon Power IT manager and his business partner are being investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission over allegations the pair billed the state-owned company more than $1 million for services provided by a firm they jointly owned.

Former Rising Stars award winner Harrier Human Capital has continued its rapid national expansion, winning a $15 million recruitment contract with AGL Energy.

State-owned Western Power will need to trim operating costs by about $100 million more than planned over the next five years under the Economic Regulation Authority's latest draft access arrangements released last night.

Two shopping centres in Perth's north have been included in a $28 million solar power project being undertaken by ASX-listed Vicinity Centres, which is forecasting the creation of about 40 local jobs.

Few projects are more meaningful for WA's economic direction than the Greenbushes lithium mine expansion and the new lithium refinery in Kwinana.

Two giant waste-to-energy projects planned for Kwinana and Rockingham could gain extra financial backing after the federal government unveiled a raft of policy initiatives to address problems flowing from China's new restrictions on accepting foreign waste.

Long-running plans by Vikas Rambal's Perdaman Industries to build a multi-billion dollar urea manufacturing plant in Western Australia have received a fillip, with his group signing a gas supply agreement with Woodside Petroleum.

The state government has appointed Stephen Edwell chair of Horizon Power, and added Kylie Chamberlain to the utility's board.

Perth-based Pacific Energy, through its newly acquired Contract Power Group, has secured a contract with Mineral Resources to build a 52-megawatt power station at the Wodgina lithium project.

Collie could soon be home to a 20 megawatt solar farm and cryptocurrency 'mining' operation, after the Southern Development Assessment Panel recommended approval for a project led by energy entrepreneur Ben Tan.

A solar power company founded by former Western Power manager Neil Danby and olympic basketballer Andrew Vlahov has picked up its first contract, winning $7 million of work for Image Resources' Boonanarring mineral sands project.

State governments have approved more detailed design work on the National Energy Guarantee to proceed at a Council of Australian Governments energy ministers meeting today, although Labor state leaders still have objections.

Woodside Petroleum chairman Michael Chaney has said there's a risk that major energy players may be dissuaded from investing into Western Australia if company tax reform is stalled, as the business closes in on a tolling deal for gas from the Browse field.

A move by the Northern Territory government to allow fracking by next year will increase pressure on the McGowan government, after a series of scientific and political inquiries gave the drilling technique the tick of approval.

Chevron's decision to build stage two of the Gorgon LNG project, announced on the weekend, takes the total value of petroleum industry investment committed or under construction in Western Australia to around $55 billion, according to state government data.

A new utility-scale battery launched in the Pilbara by Alinta Energy today will be Australia's second biggest, behind Elon Musk's Tesla battery in South Australia.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt's ambition for increased private participation in the electricity sector remains, despite a slow start, touting it as part of a microeconomic reform program designed to lift productivity.

The state government has today announced that two private investors will co-invest with Synergy in a joint venture that is planning to build up to 210 megawatts of renewable energy projects in the South West Interconnected System.

SPECIAL REPORT: Ten years after completing a company-defining acquisition, remote power operator Pacific Energy has struck another similar deal.

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CFC Group subsidiary Cape has won three new jobs worth a combined $20 million, focused on gold mining, lithium and electricity infrastructure.

Pacific Energy has strengthened its position in the remote power market by striking a deal to acquired Kewdale-based Contract Power Group for $90 million in cash and shares, adding to its existing operations through subsidiary Kalgoorlie Power Systems.

Plans to use the Barossa gas field in the Timor Sea as backfill for the Darwin LNG plant received a boost today, with the project getting a tick of approval from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority.