Remote area power supply system technologies in Western Australia: New developments in 30 years of slow progress

The escalation of the renewable energy capacity growth rate in remote pastoral Western Australian (WA) off-grid stand-alone power supply (SPS) systems over the last decade was extraordinary. The expansion was encouraged by subsidised renewable energy technologies, enabling components and system installation costs. This research quantifies and explores the changes over time of rated outputs of renewable and conventional energy components, and energy demand in SPS systems in pastoral WA over the last 30 years. This research revealed parallel increases in conventional generation unit output ratings, renewable energy capacity, and energy demand over the past decade. Whilst recent developments are encouraging, there remain many technical, social, economic and regulatory barriers to overcome the small-scale renewable energy SPS system industry in WA. A lack of mandatory standards has resulted in a minority of poor SPS systems and some aggravated owners in regions where reliability and reputation are paramount. After investing many tens of thousands of Australian dollars (AUD) on new capital equipment, minor system integration issues are becoming a frustratingly common cause of system failure for remote SPS system owners.