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W.A. names new energy minister as it navigates transition beyond coal

The newly re-elected Western Australia state government has a new energy minister – Amber-Jade Sanderson, who will be known as the minister for energy and decarbonisation.

Her appointment was announced by premier Roger Cook on Tuesday as part of a broad reshuffle following the election that saw the Labor government returned with a thumping majority in the lower house, although it may need to negotiate with a Greens cross-bench in the Upper House.

Sanderson replaces Reece Whitby, who moves to the police, road safety and tourism portfolios. Sanderson, the former minister for health and mental health, also has manufacturing, skills and TAFE, and the Pilbara in her portfolio.

Western Australia energy market is fascinating for two reasons. Up north, the huge Pilbara mining province is currently almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels, but has big plans to decarbonise: Fortescue Metals is leading the way with a stated ambition to stop burning fossil fuels at its mines by 2030 through renewables and electrification.

The state’s main grid is the biggest isolated grid in the world, with no connections to other states or countries. It has a high proportion of rooftop solar, and hopes to close down the last of its coal fired power generators by the end of the decade.

It has built and is building a number of new big batteries – including two of the biggest in the country at Collie – to help absorb rooftop solar and provide grid stability in the evening, but its ability to shutter the last of its coal generators will depend on its ability to roll out new wind and solar projects, which it has been slow to do.

“In these globally uncertain times, my priority is to make the WA economy more resilient and establishing our State as a renewable energy powerhouse, which will drive our commitment to exit coal fired power generation, help our trading partners to decarbonise and ensure secure and affordable energy,” Cook said in a statement.

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Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of Renew Economy, and of its sister sites One Step Off The Grid and the EV-focused The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.



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