Western Australia is emerging as a market leader in the uptake of microgrid technology in electricity markets, with recent announcements by Horizon Power and Carnegie Wave Energy part of broader moves across the sector.
If the Western Australian government is seeking a marketing advantage over other states, it has just been handed one in the form of the disastrous energy policy destabilising the rest of the country.
More than half of the electricity used in the Pilbara town of Onslow will be sourced from renewable sources by 2020, with the state government today announcing it will be home to Australia’s largest distributed generation microgrid.
Decmil Group has won three contracts worth about $34 million, with two of the contracts awarded to a joint venture established with a local engineering business owned by former Horizon Power boss Rod Hayes.
Shares in Programmed Maintenance Services have slid more than 20 per cent after the labour hire and maintenance group slashed its earnings guidance for the current financial year.
Perth-based renewable energy technology developer Carnegie Wave Energy has won a $2.5 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for a wave and solar power microgrid it aims to develop on Garden Island.
AGL Energy has forecast a lift in underlying profit for the current financial year while also announcing a near $600 million share buy-back and a higher dividend payout as it benefits from strong electricity margins.
Local petroleum executive John Begg is planning to list his recently formed private company, Bombora Natural Energy, after striking a deal to farm-in to UIL Energy’s Perth Basin tenement.
Citation Resources has appointed KordaMentha as voluntary administrators, while the oil and gas company continues to pursue recovery of funds through a civil action against former director Peter Landau.
The state government has acted on a key recommendation from a parliamentary inquiry into fracking delivered late last year, appointing a working group to review laws around land access.
Listed minerals group Australian Vanadium has installed its battery system in Western Australia via a subsidiary acting as a reseller of technology linked to its parent, in this case an alternative
Onshore oil producer Buru Energy has secured a native title agreement to further develop its Canning Basin gas resources, two years after its plans for a fracking program in the Kimberley caused a stir.
A group of Perth executives led by lawyer Damien Criddle and former Woodside Petroleum director Rob Cole is due to launch the world’s first trading platform for liquefied natural gas next month.
Energy giant Woodside Petroleum has entered into an agreement to buy half of BHP Billiton’s stake in the Scarborough offshore gas fields in the Carnarvon Basin for up to $US400 million ($A528 million).
Alcoa of Australia and Alumina have settled a dispute over their Western Australia-focused joint venture, which will pave the way for Alcoa to proceed with a split of its global operations.
Perth-based start up Power Ledger has secured its first commercial deal for usage of its blockchain electricity tracking technology with New Zealand network operator Vector.
A planned solar farm near Cunderdin will boost its capacity by 300 per cent due to its favourable economic potential, despite about a gigawatt of excess capacity available in the South West’s electricity network
Costs would need to come down a further 25 per cent to breakeven at around $US40 per barrel of oil for the Browse LNG project to proceed, according to Woodside Petroleum managing director Peter Coleman.
Marine services company MMA Offshore’s net loss has widened to $144 million on the back of a previously flagged impairment and reduced activity in the oil and gas sector.
SPECIAL REPORT: Discussion about a sale of Western Power is taking place against a backdrop of rapid technological change in the sector, as networks brace for an onslaught of competition from battery storage.
GR Engineering Services wrapped up the 2016 financial year with record revenue and increased profit, but says competition for design and construction opportunities remains high.
Shares in engineering firm Monadelphous Group fell sharply today after it posted a 27 per cent slide in profit on the back of lower activity in the resources and energy sectors and predicted contracting margins would remain under pressure.
CIMIC Group has launched legal action in the United States against Chevron over cost blowouts on jetty and marine structures it built at the Gorgon LNG project on Barrow Island.
Engineering group UGL hopes to claw back some of a $200 million write-down it made on the massive Ichthys natural gas project near Darwin, but is unsure when it will pay shareholders a dividend again.
Santos will not pay a dividend after plunging to a $US1.1 billion ($A1.4 billion) half-year loss on the back of lower oil prices and a large impairment against its massive new LNG project.
