Water Corporation’s desalination plant forced to power down in summer energy crisis

Water Corporation was forced to power down assets — including a key source of drinking water — on more than a dozen occasions over summer because the State was short of electricity. An extraordinary run of heatwaves piled enormous pressure on the grid and some businesses were asked to slash their use to keep the system online. A spokesman for Water Corp confirmed the enterprise turned down power 13 times between December and March — although another source suggested it may have been more. It’s understood the Binningup desalination plant — which processes seawater into drinking water — was switched off to reduce demand. “Provision of water and wastewater services were not impacted by participation in the SRC,” the Water Corporation spokesman said. The switch-off was managed through the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Supplementary Reserve Capacity program, which was launched in mid-2023 to secure extra cushioning for the grid ahead of a summer crunch. The demand management scheme pays customers to cut use to keep the system stable and is intended to help the State avoid building extra generating capacity for the most extreme — but rare — peaks. About 160 megawatts was registered by eight businesses through the scheme, including 50MW for Water Corp. Shadow energy minister Steve Thomas said it was “absolute proof that there’s not enough energy in the power system to keep the lights on and everything running”. “(WA) had to turn the desalination plant off because there’s not enough energy in the system,” he said. Mr Thomas added he understood a number of manufacturers had also needed to slash use. He said plans to bring more renewable electricity onto the grid would probably take years, and climate change would add to demand pressure. “In the next five years there’s a crisis coming in the energy supply of WA,” Mr Thomas said. AEMO has previously warned the State will need a huge influx of investment into new power capacity in the next decade as coal plants are switched off and demand grows. “Our 2023 reliability outlook called for significant investment in generation, storage, demand-side and transmission projects to support Western Australia’s energy transition,” AEMO WA executive general manager Kate Ryan said. Energy Minister Reece Whitby said an extremely hot summer with repeated heatwaves had put pressure on the grid. “Energy demand records were repeatedly broken, but the system responded, with AEMO able to manage it through peak periods,” Mr Whitby said. “We know WA’s booming economy will only add to energy demand in the future.” He said the State Government was investing in big batteries to boost stability and would keep the Muja C coal unit online for another six months through the next summer. AEMO’s data shows Cockburn Cement was registered for the demand management scheme, as was Synergy and Shell. EnelX was the biggest supplier, with 60MW to be managed through a virtual power plant system. An AEMO briefing last year indicated companies would be paid up to $98,000/MW for available capacity plus as much as $1,486 per megawatt hour. Mr Thomas said Water Corporation should declare how much it was paid to turn equipment off.