Chair message
The distribution network, like the transmission network, continues to be upgraded with around 70 per cent of the Perth metro network now underground, more advanced metering infrastructure installed and roll-out of Stand-alone Power Systems for edge of grid or remote customers continuing – all providing an improved reliability experience for customers. We are a national leader in the rollout of innovative technologies such as SPS with more than 320 SPS now installed on the network. Along with 16 community batteries and the recent launch of the combined State and Federal residential battery scheme the network is transitioning well. Reliability continues to be a key focus and has complex challenges amid climate change impacts and extreme weather events. The network continues to maintain a reliability at 99.92% even with these factors. These innovative and positive changes are centred around delivering on our commitment to the community, and the business has been agile and efficient in streamlining operations to deliver better outcomes. In the past year we have delivered better processes for connecting small and large-scale customers in alignment with community benefit priorities including working with Government to accelerate housing supply. Like many organisations we continue to face competition for the people and equipment needed to continue to work at pace, and we’ve instigated measures to mitigate this where possible like securing long lead items and undertaking comprehensive recruitment locally and internationally. At a Board level, governance and strategy guides the fantastic work which has been done by the business. Our role is to facilitate and support the business while maintaining prudence as a Government Trading Enterprise. Western Power has certainly achieved a great deal by being agile and effective as it continues to rise to meet the challenges of affordability, technology, and climate change. Underpinning all of this is of course safety. The expertise and dedication of our employees is to be commended, and on behalf of my fellow board members I thank them. I’d also acknowledge and thank the Board members – including the work of outgoing director Eva Skira AM, the Executive, and the senior leadership team for their collaboration in leading the strategic direction of the organisation. It’s been extremely rewarding being part of what will be a once-in-a-generation change in WA’s energy journey. Denise Goldsworthy Chair
In the past three years as Western Power’s Board Chair, I’ve seen some incredible growth and achievements across the business as it has worked to deliver a once-in-a-generation transformation of the network, critical for a clean energy future for the community. This past financial year has seen much of the initial foundations set now bearing fruit with significant in-roads being made. In 2018 when I began at Western Power as a director, the business was just starting to explore how renewable energy could be further unlocked in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). Now we’re seeing this become a reality with our Clean Energy Link – North project underway, enabling 1GW of renewable energy to be connected to the network, equivalent to powering around 500,000 WA homes. Along with this comes economic stimulus and projected employment of 400 jobs. We’ve also seen the continued rapid rise of rooftop solar and the increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DER). Around 40% of all residential houses now have rooftop solar with about 30,000 new systems installed each year. The integration of customer owned DER has moved in leaps and bounds with the establishment, completion and proof-points of Project Symphony illustrating that Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) can operate at scale and create value for the community and the network. We now embark on Project Jupiter to embed VPPs as part of our standard practices, unlocking greater benefits for customers from their own DER. In November last year renewables powered 85.1% of the grid, a significant milestone on the journey to net-zero. This was achieved through continued collaboration with industry and Government to connect more renewable sources to the distribution network as well as large-scale generation with around 880MW of new renewable generation connected to the network in the past financial year.
Western Power Annual Report 2025
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