Agenda

• Competing for transition capital as energy, mining and critical minerals projects vie for investment
• Building downstream processing to capture more value from Australia’s critical minerals endowment
• Applying a geopolitical lens to decarbonisation to strengthen resilience, partnerships and long term advantage

• Strengthening local manufacturing capability in a constrained energy market
• Decarbonising industrial operations while remaining globally competitive
• Unlocking long-term advantage through the energy transition

• How did NSW structure the REZ model, and what parts of that approach could work in WA?
• What does the ACEREZ model reveal about ownership, delivery and long-term operational accountability?
• Which contracting and cost recovery mechanisms have been most effective in supporting investment certainty and access?
• What practical lessons should WA take from NSW on sequencing, governance, risk allocation and delivery execution?

• What progress has the Clean Energy Link program made so far, and what does that reveal about the realities of delivering transmission in WA?
• How does the D&C contracting model work in practice across approvals, interfaces, outages and energisation windows?
• What delivery pressures have the greatest impact, from supply chain and workforce capability to regional logistics and live network integration?
• What lessons should be carried forward into future transmission builds and renewable energy zone developments?

• Reducing duplication by planning common-use corridors and staged network builds
• Accelerating renewable connection by bridging the timing gaps between transmission and generation/storage deployment
• Lowering whole-of-system cost by avoiding duplication and improving community outcomes

• What elements of WA's current framework are working well?
• What lessons from NSW and other jurisdictions should WA adopt or adapt?
• How can funding, regulation and delivery models continue to evolve?
• Where are the biggest opportunities to accelerate investment and project delivery?
• What should industry focus on over the next five years?

• Expanding commercial and industrial flexibility to unlock new demand side capacity across Western Australia
• Integrating EVs into load flexibility plans to turn transport electrification into a system balancing asset
• Advancing WA distribution transformation by using customer centric network planning to bring more flexible demand onto the system

• Expanding commercial and industrial flexibility to unlock new demand side capacity across Western Australia
• Integrating EVs into load flexibility plans to turn transport electrification into a system balancing asset
• Advancing WA distribution transformation by using customer centric network planning to bring more flexible demand onto the system

• Improving price and reliability signals so BESS long duration storage and firming capacity are rewarded more effectively
• Managing curtailment oversupply and volatility by aligning market settings with a more variable and decentralised system
• Coordinating storage flexible demand and renewable gas to support a more balanced and investable SWIS

• How can WA unlock more value from inverter-based resources while maintaining system security as synchronous generation retires?
• What technical standards and performance requirements should WA prioritise to reflect its unique system characteristics?
• Which advanced inverter capabilities could make the biggest difference to system strength, stability and operability in the SWIS?
• How can WA accelerate renewable generation and storage integration without importing approaches that are not fit for local conditions?

• Reading global gas balances to sharpen WA project timing and market strategy (ie What does the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies scenario planning tell us about risks and opportunities in global gas markets?)
• Managing geopolitical shocks to protect LNG revenues and domestic gas security
• Tracking Asia’s transition pathways to capture WA’s next gas and decarbonisation opportunities

• Reading global gas balances to sharpen WA project timing and market strategy (ie What does the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies scenario planning tell us about risks and opportunities in global gas markets?)
• Managing geopolitical shocks to protect LNG revenues and domestic gas security
• Tracking Asia’s transition pathways to capture WA’s next gas and decarbonisation opportunities

• Tracking progress across the regions to share practical updates on projects already reshaping regional energy systems
• Examining how remote and regional networks are evolving through local generation storage microgrids and fit for purpose reliability solutions
• Understanding how load drivers regional areas are diversifying through mining decarbonisation new industrial demand and emerging data centre activity

• How can the sector build a workforce that is not just larger, but more capable and productive?
• What role should training providers, industry and technology leaders play in reshaping workforce development for the energy transition?
• How can AI and digital tools reduce pressure on scarce engineering and technical resources across planning, approvals and delivery?
• What will a high-performing energy workforce need to look like by 2035?

• Building more value onshore through batteries, storage systems and clean energy technology
• Turning the energy transition to strategic advantage into industry by converting WA capability into investment and jobs
• Strengthening green industry leadership by growing domestic supply chains, system capability and clean energy manufacturing capacity

• Challenging planning assumptions that understate uncertainty, so WA can avoid costly blind spots and design for real-world volatility
• Building a more flexible, reliable, and investable power system that supports industrial growth, electrification, and long-term price competitiveness
• Aligning generation, transmission, storage, and firming decisions with the needs of a globally competitive WA economy, not just average-case scenarios
• Redesigning regulatory and market frameworks to reward resilience, unlock capital, and keep Western Australia attractive for major energy users and investors

• Examining Fortescue’s Pilbara project through Nyamal concerns about consent and Traditional Owner-led decision-making
• Working with the First Nations Clean Energy Network to strengthen governance, negotiation capability and project literacy
• Building long-term economic independence through First Nations ownership, procurement, decision-making and renewable power rollouts

• Building trust by engaging communities early, clearly, and repeatedly so energy projects earn permission as well as approval
• Strengthening energy literacy by translating complex system changes into plain language that helps communities understand costs, reliability, and benefits
• Countering misinformation by using trusted local voices and evidence-led storytelling to reduce fear and protect support for the transition

• Assessing the Perth Basin outlook and what speed to market really requires across approvals, investment decisions, offtake, processing and connection
• Testing whether enabling infrastructure is on track, and where gaps in processing, compression, storage and pipeline access could slow new supply
• Mapping pipeline augmentation timelines against emerging demand, peak reliability needs and domestic gas security risks
• Examining the practical realities of increasing pipeline capacity, including commercial triggers, outage planning, construction lead times and customer underwriting

• Using scenario-based planning to identify when and where the SWIS will need new system support
• Maintaining system strength and essential system services as synchronous generation retires
• Deploying flexible, dispatchable capacity to support reliability while enabling higher renewable penetration

• How much gas does the system actually need as coal exits and renewable penetration rises without defaulting to oversized long lived infrastructure?
• How should gas be used as a transitional reliability backstop while storage electrification and other firming options take on a greater role?
• How should pipeline and generation investment be sized against realistic long term demand to avoid stranded assets and misplaced capital?
• Who should bear utilisation and stranded asset risk before new gas infrastructure is underwritten by customers or taxpayers?

Designed for junior to middle managers or anyone new to the energy sector, it will help bridge gaps in awareness of how WA’s energy systems operate outside the National Electricity Market. If you are still figuring out the difference between DR and DER, this session is the perfect starting point.

Upon completion of the workshop, attendees will

• Understand the structure, history and policy context of Western Australia’s energy systems, including how the WEM and SWIS operate outside the National Electricity Market

• Identify the key organisations, agencies and market participants shaping WA’s energy sector and how they work together across interconnected and remote networks

• Build confidence with essential industry concepts, terminology and technologies, from market mechanisms to DER, demand response and clean energy workforce pathways

• Gain practical insight into the challenges, opportunities and career pathways emerging as Western Australia accelerates its energy transition

This masterclass is designed to address the practical challenges of operating BESS assets in the Australian market, and is suited to engineers and technical specialists responsible for the installation, commissioning and ongoing maintenance.

Upon completion of the masterclass, attendees will:

• Understand the key drivers of battery performance and degradation and how design and operational decisions impact asset life and project economics

• Understand key considerations required to operate and maintain BESS safely and reliably under Australian conditions

• Gain practical insight into managing fire risk, safety standards and compliance obligations

• Understand key considerations to achieve new technical expectations, including ancillary services and grid-forming requirements