Western Australia Sets 75% Renewables Target for Main Grid by 2030-31

• Western Australia set a 75% renewable generation target for its main grid, the South West Interconnected System, by the 2030-31 financial year.
• Renewables supplied 40% in 2025; state modelling says industrial power prices could be 89% higher by 2032 without the plan.
• Manufacturers can apply until Feb. 23, 2027, for loans of up to A$15 million for solar, batteries and efficient equipment.

Western Australia set a 75% renewable generation target for its main grid, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), by the 2030-31 financial year. The goal anchors a Plan for Affordable Energy the state government released Oct. 27.

Renewables supplied 40% of the grid's power in 2025, up from 14% in 2017, the plan says. Reaching the new target means adding 35 percentage points in less than six years.

A loan program for manufacturers worth A$150 million ($105 million) opened for applications the same day. Loans range from A$300,000 to A$15 million and cover up to 80% of a project's cost. They can pay for solar, batteries and energy-efficient equipment.

Without the plan, prices paid by industry could be 89% higher by 2032, according to modelling by the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification. Boston Consulting Group assured the work.

Rooftop solar and other distributed PV supplied 16.0% of the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) in July–September, AEMO data show. Solar farms supplied 1.2%. Coal's share fell to 23.5% amid outages, and gas rose to 37.3%. On the separate east-coast grid, the report showed batteries beating gas in the evening peak.

WA's energy plan in numbers

• A$150 million for manufacturer loans, or about $105 million at the Reserve Bank of Australia's Oct. 23 rate (list.solar calculation).
• 3.3 GW of small-scale solar in the WEM at end-September, up 13% in a year, per AEMO.
• 1,375 MW / 5,320 MWh of grid-scale batteries in the WEM at end-September, per AEMO, or 3.9 hours on average (list.solar calculation). The government cites more than 1,400 MW.
• 30.7% of WEM supply came from wind and solar in the third quarter, the southern winter (list.solar calculation from AEMO data).
• A$120.72 per MWh was the average real-time WEM price in the quarter, the highest on record, according to AEMO.
• 33,000-plus homes have installed batteries under the WA Residential Battery Scheme since 2025.

"Every Western Australian with rooftop solar knows that renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy," Premier Roger Cook said.

The plan also extends temporary price caps for older generators in the capacity market and promises a gas security strategy. It sets no interim milestones on the way to 75%.

Loan applications close at 5 p.m. local time on Feb. 23, 2027. Synergy's remaining coal units at Collie and Muja D are due to shut by 2030.