Western Australia Generation Mix

Western Australia Generation Mix

Western Australia's generation mix in the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) is dominated by gas-fired generation, reflecting the state's abundant natural gas reserves. Combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) and open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT) together supply the majority of electricity in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), giving WA a distinctively different fuel profile from the coal-heavy eastern states.

Coal-fired generation from the Collie region — including Bluewaters and Muja power stations — provides additional baseload capacity. However, coal's share of the WEM generation mix is significantly lower than in NSW or Queensland, and several coal units have been earmarked for retirement.

Wind and solar generation are growing across the SWIS, and rooftop solar adoption in Perth and surrounding areas is among the highest in Australia. The lack of interconnection to any other market means the WEM must balance supply and demand entirely from local resources, making the generation mix particularly sensitive to weather conditions and planned maintenance outages.