Shire of Collie continuing to brace for change in midst of six-month delay to Muja Power Station shutdown

Collie residents are continuing to brace for change in the midst of the State Government’s plans to retire coal-fired generators by 2030 despite the shutdown of the Muja Power Station being delayed by six months. State Energy Minister Bill Johnston revealed last Thursday that the 200 megawatt Unit 6 at Muja Power Station will be kept available throughout the summer of 2024-25 in a bid to avoid blackouts. Shire of Collie president Sarah Stanley said the Shire was continuing to work with the State Government on the dual transition of the community and workforce alongside the broader electricity network transition. “Our people understand better than most what is required to keep the lights on in this State, and we understand that timelines may need to be adjusted as the transition evolves,” she said. “Open and transparent communication between the State Government, the Just Transition Working Group and the broader community will enable us to manage change as a community and within our households. “This adjustment will not impact plans progressing for the exciting new industries to be based in Collie.” The six-month delay came in response to forecasts by the Australian Energy Market Operator that flagged a big shortfall in electricity in WA’s main power grid within the next two years. In its annual demand forecast, the AEMO predicted a capacity “shortfall of 945MW in 2025-26”. That grows to about 4000MW by 2032-33 — the equivalent of almost two-thirds of existing capacity within WA’s main power grid, the South West Interconnected System. However, Mr Johnston insisted it was “good news” that demand for electricity was on a rapid growth path and claimed the shortfalls would never materialise. Last year, the Cook Government announced all State-owned coal-fired generators would be retired by 2030 as part of efforts to decarbonise the grid. Muja C Unit 6 was slated to come offline permanently in October 2024 but will now be placed in “reserve outage mode” from the start of that month until the end of March 2025, keeping it available “for significant peak demand events” over that summer. Coal-fired generation has surged in cost in recent years — particularly in comparison to renewables — but is also increasingly difficult to integrate into modern power grids because it cannot be rapidly powered up and down. While still important for periods of peak demand — primarily in the evenings — coal-fired plants are becoming increasingly redundant at other times of day, leading to maintenance and reliability issues as they are constantly brought on and offline. The Cook Government in March announced $3 billion would be invested in new wind projects and battery storage as part of plans to address peak demand shortfalls, with the private sector also expected to supply additional storage and renewables. However, the decision to delay the shutdown of Muja C Unit 6 illustrates coal remains integral to WA’s power needs in the short term.