A bid by RATCH Australia to significantly expand the operating hours at the Worley-operated Kemerton gas peaking power plant has been approved by Environment Minister Reece Whitby.
The approval will dramatically increase the annual operating hours at the gas plant from 1,800 hours to as many as 13,600 hours per year – based on two turbines each approved to run for 6,800 hours per annum.
It will allow Kemerton to lift electricity production capacity from around 480 gigawatt hours per year to more than 2,100 gigawatt hours each year, in a bid to provide additional electricity supply stability from the facility into the grid as the state eases off coal-fired generation.
The domestic gas required to fuel the plant will lift from 6 petajoules to as much as 25.48 PJ each year, drawn from the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline.
The approval comes less than a year after plant owner RATCH applied to permanently extend the life at Kemerton, after the facility operated under a temporary 12-month increase to its parameters in a bid to meet market demand.
The approval sets parameters which require Kemerton meets emissions reductions targets over five-year windows from 2030, with a net-zero target by 2048.
The Kemerton plant is one of three facilities in the state which can ‘restart’ the South West Interconnected System in the event of a major interruption or full network blackout.
Operator Worley has a contract in place with the Australian Energy Market Operator to restart the SWIS if required.
EPA assessment of the request to expand the operating hours at Kemerton noted the plant would not always operate to the capacity outlined in its licence.
It said the facility would provide security and reliability to the wholesale market as a peaking plant as the energy transition progresses through the 2030s.
“The utilisation of the Kemerton power station is anticipated to decrease in the medium to long term with the addition of renewable power generation capacity on the SWIS,” the EPA noted.
The two gas turbines at Kemerton were granted 155MW worth of credits to supply the WA electricity market during peak times during the 2026/27 capacity year, in the AEMO’s recent capacity credit award.
First approved in early 2004, the Kemerton plant has produced electricity for the state’s grid since 2005.
The state plans to phase out coal-fired power generation in 2030, with gas earmarked by the government as a critical firming fuel for the grid while renewables capacity and reliability is firmed.
