Horizon Power is supporting the State Government's commitment to reduce public sector emissions by 80% by 2030 and to become net zero by 2050.

To achieve this goal, we are prioritising financial investment into decarbonisation of the towns that emit the highest levels of carbon emissions (CO2) being those powered primarily by fossil fuelled generators using gas and diesel. For the Kimberley, this includes Halls Creek, Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing and Camballin/Looma.

Planning for a new energy system is complex and takes time. The energy generation solution also needs to be tailored to each town, so it’s important that we start engaging with local communities now.

Future Energy System Planning is a public process in which Horizon Power works together with our communities and stakeholders to identify and explore energy options to shape their future energy system.

We engage and inform local communities, Local Government Authorities, Traditional Owner groups and key stakeholders to determine long-term energy solutions that best meet their needs. This includes seeking support on acquiring land on which to build the generation facility. We work to balance the demand, reliability and future energy needs of our towns with the voices and opinions of those who help make it a community.

A decarbonisation solution looks at cleaner and greener energy sources such as solar, battery storage and wind energy, as long as these sources are both technologically and commercially readily available. At the early stages of the project we will be assessing which of these generation types make sense and some generation types may not be part of the final solution.

As we progress the solution design for the future energy system, the technical considerations and economic viability may mean that some generation types cannot be part of the final solution.

Community engagement allows us to understand the appetite in each town for renewable energy sources.

Yes. The availability of land that can be used is a crucial factor in determining the future energy solution.

Renewable generation facilities such as a wind or solar farm require far larger footprints of land compared to a diesel- or gas-powered facility. The amount of land available determines the percentage of the town’s energy generated from renewable sources.

If we are unable to acquire land, we substantially reduce the amount of renewable generation options available for the town.

Land size is estimated based on the land required for new renewables. For example:

• Solar arrays require a footprint of approximately 2.5 Ha per MW generated
• Wind turbines require a footprint of approximately 30-40 Ha per MW generated

Planning for a future energy system is complex and takes time and community engagement to gather opinions and thoughts. If the recommended system is approved for delivery, construction would likely commence in 2026.  

The future energy system will not have a direct impact on outages. Outages are primarily driven by unpredictable weather events and wildlife interactions. 

Your current power bills are set by tariffs that are heavily subsidised by the government. Introducing renewable energy generation as part of this project may reduce the cost of serving the town but will not directly affect your bills.  

We have considered hydrogen on several recent projects and will continue to explore hydrogen as a viable future energy solution. At the current time:  

• It is too costly to produce hydrogen onsite for use 

• There are no reliable suppliers to deliver hydrogen as a fuel source.  

The typical working life of solar panels and wind turbines is 20 years. These renewable technologies are usually installed in conjunction with a battery energy storage system, which have an estimated working life of 10 years.

We can often undertake work to extend the life of assets, but this depends on site-specific conditions.

During the procurement process, Horizon Power will assess contractor efforts in recycling materials. We investigate how a contractor sources, and disposes of, the renewable components to be used in the construction of a renewable energy facility. 

We are reviewing a number of land parcels to determine if they are suitable, including biological surveys that need to be undertaken 6-8 weeks after rainfall.

Once the biological surveys are complete, our team will review the results to determine which sites are suitable for further shortlisting and how we can avoid, mitigate, minimise and manage our environmental impacts.

Horizon Power is committed to reducing our environmental impact as we progress towards net zero.

Horizon Power is constantly searching for new and innovative technologies that can assist us and our customers to decarbonise our energy future. We regularly meet with wind, wave, tidal and solar energy generation technology providers as well as exploring new and emerging storage technologies.

We are currently engaged in technology trials for three different types of Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) to provide our customers with more options to use renewable energy.

We are interested potential trials of emerging generation technologies (such as wave or tidal), but our expectation for the foreseeable future is that these technologies will not be commercially competitive with solar and onshore wind.

Horizon Power is also undertaking a market testing exercise and seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from suitably qualified and experienced organisations interested in entering into a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The proponents are free to propose low-carbon technologies of their choosing.