What Western Australia’s new projects mean for the clean energy industry

The Australian and Western Australian governments recently jointly announced 10 new renewable energy and battery storage projects under the federal Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), with the projects set to deliver 1.9 gigawatts of renewable generation and 482 megawatts of battery storage.

Comprising six onshore wind farms, three standalone big batteries and one solar and battery hybrid project and spanning from Three Springs down to Collie and across to Kondinin, the projects represent A$5 billion (approx. US$3.56bn) in new energy infrastructure investment. They are planned to be operational by 2030, creating an estimated 7,000 construction jobs and 500 maintenance jobs across the Wheatbelt, Mid-West, Peel and South West regions.

Combined they will generate enough electricity to power more than one million WA households and provide enough dispatchable storage to support more than 400,000 households for four hours during peak demand.

The announcement comes as WA prepares to exit coal-fired power generation by 2030, with the new projects designed to keep the lights on, put downward pressure on power prices and cut emissions via cheaper, cleaner renewable energy backed by storage.

Renewable generation already reached 46.1% in the wholesale electricity market between January and March 2026 – more than 5% higher than the same period the prior year. The approved projects are expected to accelerate WA's renewable energy transition considerably.

Minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, described the scale of the announcement as “the biggest electricity boost in WA's history” and “exactly what the Capacity Investment Scheme was designed to deliver”.

The projects

The announcement covers two tenders under the CIS. Tender 5 was the first generation-focused tender in the Western energy market (WEM) and resulted in seven successful projects:

• Yathroo Wind Farm (420 MW) operated by Neoen Australia in Yathroo;
• Narrogin Wind Farm (168 MW) operated by Neoen Australia in Minigin;
• Kondinin Wind Farm (130 MW) operated by Shell Energy & Foresight in Kondinin;
• Tathra Wind Farm (240 MW) operated by Synergy Renewable Energy Developments Pty Ltd (SynergyRED) in Eneabba;
• Waddi Wind Farm (108 MW) operated by Tilt Renewables in Dandaragan;
• Parron Maam Marang Wind Farm (470 MW) operated by Zephyr Energy (Atmos Renewables) in Hill River; and
• Killawarra Hybrid Project – solar (350 MW) and battery storage (2,100 MWh) operated by Trina Solar in Kadathinni.

Following the announcement of Tender 2 in March 2025, Tender 6 was the second dispatchable capacity tender in the WEM, producing three successful battery storage projects:

• Collie Battery and Solar Hybrid Project (200 MW / 1,518 MWh) operated by Enpowered & Plenary Group in Palmer;
• Yathroo Battery (200 MW / 1,600 MWh) operated by Neoen Australia in Mimegarra; and
• Waroona Renewable Energy Project – Stage 1 (82 MW / 565 MWh) operated by Frontier Energy in Wagerup.

In total, the seven generation and hybrid projects will deliver 1.886GW of generation capacity and 2.1GWh of storage, while the three standalone battery storage projects will deliver 482MW / 3,683MWh of dispatchable capacity.

Assistant Minister Josh Wilson claimed the projects would give the region the cleaner energy needed to replace coal-fired power.

“These projects will generate enough energy for more than 1 million WA homes, pump $255 million into local economies and deliver jobs and growth for regional and rural WA,” he said.

“The success of these tenders demonstrates a strong pipeline of renewable energy projects in Western Australia, particularly for onshore wind.

“This will drive WA's renewable energy capacity to the next level."

Community and First Nations commitments

Developers have made notable commitments for local communities, First Nations participation and Australian-made materials, subject to final contracts. 

Tender 5 projects have committed an estimated A$67.1 million in community shared benefits, A$89.7 million in First Nations benefits and over A$20.6 million in Australian-made steel, while Tender 6 projects have committed an estimated A$8.6 million in community shared benefits, A$67.3 million in First Nations benefits and over $1.6 million in Australian-made steel.

Amber-Jade Sanderson, WA minister for energy and decarbonisation, emphasised the role of the regional government in bringing the projects to fruition, stating: "The Cook Labor Government has supercharged the renewable energy transition by supporting many of these projects through power purchase agreements – giving proponents the certainty they needed to get off the ground.

“This major investment from the Albanese Government will ramp up this important pipeline of work, creating thousands of quality local jobs and decarbonising our economy.”

Opportunities for WA energy and infrastructure participants

The approval of 10 new major clean energy projects across WA, with a combined investment value of A$5 billion, creates a substantial pipeline of work across a broad range of disciplines and represents key opportunities for participants operating in the energy and infrastructure sectors, who should now look for expert advice on how best to capitalise on these opportunities.

Construction and civil works

With 7,000 construction jobs expected and all projects targeting completion by 2030, the programme represents one of the largest near-term civil and construction pipelines in WA's history. Contractors and subcontractors active in earthworks, access roads, tower erection, electrical installation and grid connection will see material opportunities across projects ranging in scale from 108MW to 470MW.

Supply chain and local content

The diversity of technologies – wind, solar PV and BESS – will create demand across multiple supply chains. Local content commitments across both tenders, including for Australian-made steel, signal that developers will seek to engage domestic suppliers, which may be a condition of or expectation under their CIS agreements.

Operations and maintenance

Long-term O&M contracts – covering turbine servicing, battery monitoring, SCADA systems, grid compliance and asset management – will offer durable revenue streams for service providers across regional WA for the lifetime of these assets.

Project finance

With CIS revenue support providing a degree of cash flow certainty, we expect that these projects will attract domestic and international project finance lenders, institutional equity and infrastructure funds.

Legal and regulatory advisory

Projects of this scale and complexity give rise to a wide range of legal and regulatory workstreams spanning procurement, land, environment, planning, energy regulation, First Nations engagement and finance. Developers, contractors, lenders and other participants will require specialist advice across multiple disciplines as these projects progress from development through to construction and operations.

First Nations economic participation

As previously described, with both tenders carrying their own First Nations benefit commitments, there is a growing need for expertise in structuring, amongst other things, First Nations benefit-sharing arrangements, joint ventures, employment and training programmes, and Indigenous land use agreements.