The State Government’s Energy Transformation Taskforce has been wound up after two years.

Energy Minister Bill Johnston said the task force had delivered the Government's Energy Transformation Strategy and responded to the unprecedented changes in the State’s energy sector.

The sector is experiencing a rapid transformation, with one in three households having rooftop solar panels, and strong growth in large scale wind and solar farms continuing.

While this provides the opportunity for Western Australians to enjoy low cost and low emissions electricity, the pace of this transition poses challenges to our power system, Mr Johnston said. 

The task force had:

• Released the Distributed Energy Resources Roadmap to manage the rapid growth of rooftop
  solar systems into the power system with actions through to 2024.
• Devised a Whole of System Plan that provides different scenarios of how WA's main electricity
  grid might look in the next 20 years and the 'no regrets' investments we can make now.
• Redesigned the Wholesale Electricity Market to improve power system security and efficiency
  and improve network access for new, largely renewable generators.

Mr Johnston said the task force had prepared for the imminent challenges ahead “as we navigate towards a high-renewable energy future”. 

"When I became Energy Minister the Australian Energy Market Operator warned that if left unaddressed these challenges could cause system blackouts as early as 2022,” he said. "I'm confident Energy Policy WA is now well-prepared to lead the next stage of the energy transformation and focus on integrating new technology into the power system."

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