WATER CORPORATION — ALKIMOS DESALINATION PLANT
430. Ms S.E. WINTON to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment in responding to the impacts of climate change
on Western Australia's traditional water resources.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the new desalination plant in Alkimos,
announced today, will help secure Perth and Peel's long-term drinking
water supply?
(2) Can the
minister also outline to the house how that will help Western Australia meet
its emissions target for government?
Mr D.J.
KELLY replied:
(1)–(2) Thank you very much, member, for this question.
Yes, we made a very important announcement today. As members will be aware,
because of the impacts of climate change, our two desalination plants already
provide over 40 per cent of the drinking water for Perth and Peel, and all the
way out to Kalgoorlie–Boulder and significant parts of the south west.
Our ability to rely on rainfall has almost disappeared completely because of climate
change. Had we not had those two desalination plants, a process begun by the
Carpenter–Gallop government, we would have been in serious trouble here
in Western Australia. We announced today that the preferred location for our
third desalination plant is Alkimos. That will be a 100-gigalitre plant. It is
a very significant investment. We have already set aside $1.4 billion towards
that project. The time line is that we plan to have the first stage of 50
gigalitres online by 2028. We announced that today, and that is very important.
What is also very important is that
we announced that the plant will be powered by renewable energy. Desalination
is very useful because it is very reliable, but it is also very energy
intensive. The Water Corporation is the highest government greenhouse gas
emitter, apart from Synergy itself. If we take away Synergy's
coal-fired power stations, the Water Corporation is head and shoulders above
all government agencies as a greenhouse gas emitter. In fact, it is one of the
highest emitters on the grid. Therefore, it is essential that we deal with that
issue.
We announced today that the new
plant will be powered by renewable energy. The Water Corporation will be
procuring 400 megawatts of wind energy. That will enable the Water Corporation
to power with renewable energy not only the new desalination plant but also our
two existing desal plants. In fact, the Water
Corporation across all its operations is now on a pattern to be net zero by
2035. That is very impressive. The Water Corporation will go from being
one of the largest emitters to being net zero by 2035. I want to commend the
staff of the Water Corporation. Having been given that challenge, they have
mapped out a plan that will enable us to do
that. Of course, our announcement about the Water Corporation also fits very
neatly with today's announcement by the Minister for Environment that
all government agencies will have a target of an 80 per cent reduction in
emissions by 2030.
I
am really pleased about the work that the Water Corporation has done to be part
of this government's drive to not only secure our water supply into the
future in the face of climate change, but also make sure that we are addressing
the causes of climate change, and that is greenhouse gas emissions. For the
Water Corporation to secure our water supply and also be a net zero
emitter by 2035 is a fantastic commitment.