West Australian Energy Minister, Bill Johnston, has announced that through Horizon Power, more regional Western Australian residents will have the opportunity to install rooftop solar panels on their premises.
The West Australian Government and Horizon Power are joining together to provide more renewable energy solutions as part of a commitment to delivering reliable and safe power to residents and businesses in regional and remote WA.
As of 1 July 2019, customers across numerous towns in regional WA will be able to connect an additional 10MW of small-scale renewable energy systems to Horizon Power systems, generating more solar power over the long term.
Among the towns that will benefit are the regional centres of Karratha, Port Hedland, Broome, Kununurra, Derby, Carnarvon and Esperance.
Mr Johnston said the announcement was welcome news for regional customers, some of whom have been waiting for close to a decade to install rooftop solar panels.
“Rooftop solar and batteries play a key role in shaping the future of the state’s energy system. It is estimated that up to half of all electricity could be generated by consumers over the next few decades,” Mr Johnston said.
This increase is part of the government’s Energy Transformation Strategy which aims to provide cleaner energy solutions for future years, and stems from a review of Horizon Power’s technical requirements and a number of in-depth renewable energy trials conducted by the organisation.
The release of more renewable energy into the electricity network benefits not only customers who will save money on their power bills, but also takes a significant step toward reducing the state’s carbon footprint through decreased greenhouse gas emissions.
