Sustainable Energy Now and associated consultant Ben Rose were commissioned to produce the Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap by The Wilderness Society (WA), Environs Kimberley and the Lock the Gate Alliance. See the Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap public website.

The objective was to deliver a comprehensive, fully costed, clearly articulated Renewable Energy (RE) roadmap, to create a cleaner, and ultimately cheaper, energy future for the towns and communities of the broader West Kimberley region. The report was derived from research by SEN energy consultants and the use of the modelling software SIREN and Powerbalance, developed by SEN members.

The outcomes are summarised in the Key Findings, and the Executive Summary, based on the full Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap Report.

The Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap analysed the costs of various RE scenarios and compared them to fossil-fuelled alternatives in a range of locations.

It shows that we can move from 6% RE to 60-90% RE, with:

• savings of $30-$45 per Megawatt-hour on the wholesale price of electricity
• a saving of more than $14.8 million per year
• a reduction of 153,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year

A Renewable Energy roll-out could include:

• wind (117 MW)
• utility-scale solar PV (97 MW)
• battery storage (132 MWh)

and make reduced use of existing fossil-fuelled generation for backup.

In addition, the Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap will produce 184 long-term jobs, including local indigenous employment opportunities.