Identifying the cost optimised electricity system transformation pathway to 100% renewable electricity for Western Australia

In the context of reaching the state, federal, and global climate target, it is crucial to decarbonise the electricity sector of Western Australia. The purpose of the study is to develop exploratory scenarios to explore the cost optimised electricity generation mix for a transition to decarbonized electricity system of Western Australia with 100% renewable energy integration. The research also studies the features, advantage, and disadvantages of different energy modelling tools for the study. OSeMOSYS energy model with MoManI interface, a flexible, easy to learn and open-source energy model, is used to develop the electricity model for Western Australia. The dissertation shows a detailed procedure to develop the electricity system model of Western Australia. The model developed in this study constructs two scenarios, which are Business as Usual (BAU) and 100% RE. These two scenarios will help the energy planners to understand how cost-effective the electricity system decarbonisation will be. The result generated from the model is analysed through comparative analysis in the technoeconomic and environmental perspective. The focus of the analysis of the result is future electricity generation mix, installed capacity and total cost of the electricity system in 2040, especially under the 100% RE scenario. The result demonstrates that wind technology will be central to the lowest cost electricity system transformation pathway. After wind, the solar technologies, especially the rooftop solar PV technology, will play an important role in the decarbonisation of the electricity system. The model result also shows that there won’t be any production from coal technologies after 2038 in the BAU scenario and after 2018 in 100% RE scenario. According to the model result, storage capacities of 2.32 GW in 2019 and 1.16 GW in 2028 will help the transition of the electricity system to 100% renewable energy