The Australian Energy Market Operator will seek further emergency support for Western Australia’s main power grid, as it looks to address projected risks to supply in the state.
The Australian Energy Market Operator will seek further emergency support for Western Australia’s main power grid, as it looks to address projected risks to supply in the state.
Citing concerns over the grid’s ability to meet forecast demand, AEMO applied to tender for support for the South West Interconnected System for a further two years from October 2025.
The application for additional support through the Non-co-optimised Essential System Services (NCESS) program was endorsed by the state’s Coordinator of Energy this week, in a report which highlighted the delicate balance to be struck between grid reliability and energy security.
“Taking into account changes to capacity forecasted for the 2025-26 capacity year from the 2023-24 values and based on best estimates at the time of this submission, AEMO has identified a shortfall of up to 354 megawatts,” the Coordinator of Energy report stated.
AEMO’s submission highlighted increased energy consumption forecasts, the phasing out of coal-fired power generation and full supply challenges as contributing factors in its request.
It warned the supplementary reserve capacity mechanism, which allows AEMO to source reserve capacity six months ahead of time, was unlikely to address the identified shortfall in full.
The tendering process to engage non-network services to support the grid for up to 354MW of reliability service will begin within 20 days.
“The coordinator considers that AEMO must apply appropriate mitigation measures to minimise the cost of this procurement,” the Coordinator of Energy’s determination report read.
“In particular, consideration must be given to the requirements in the service specification to ensure that a range of technologies can compete for the reliability services.
“This includes technologies with shorter duration characteristics.”
AEMO has requested to tender through the NCESS twice in the past year.
Earlier this month, Enel X Australia was awarded a two-year contract to supply 120MW of flexible demand capacity to the WA wholesale energy market under the same program.
Under the contract, Enel X will recruit commercial and industrial partners to curtail their electricity use during periods of peak electricity demand.
The Enel X contract will run until October 2026.
In August, the state government deferred the closure of unit six at the Muja C coal-fired power station in Collie by six months following an AEMO report which forecast significant shortfalls.
