while methane and drought pressures intensify
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A Murdoch University researcher watched two Bunbury dolphins, Smiley and Star, strand within minutes this winter.
Parks and Wildlife Service staff carried both animals to deeper water, where they later foraged normally.
Population ecologist Dr Krista Nicholson says a drying climate dries estuaries, and shifting water levels may raise those risks.[7]
Three pressures now converge in Western Australia: rapid grid change, a methane controversy and a drier, fire-prone landscape.
Each tests state institutions in a different way.
The evidence below shows where governance has kept pace and where gaps remain.
On 27 October, Western Australia set a formal target of 75 per cent renewable electricity by 2030-31.
The target covers the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the grid serving Perth and much of the South West.
Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson calls the goal a statement of intent that aims to attract private investment.[1]
Renewables supplied 39 per cent of SWIS electricity use in 2024-25, around three times the 2016 share. The new target nearly doubles that share within five years.[2][1]
By the end of the decade, the government has vowed to close its last state-owned coal generators at Collie. The one privately owned coal generator is also likely to close. State-owned Synergy and Water Corporation have written some of the purchase agreements underpinning new developments.[1]
In 2012, an energy minister opened Greenough River, the nation's first large-scale solar farm, and vowed to stop there. Western Australia now accounts for half of the nation's 10 wind projects past financial close, when lenders commit funds. Construction began this month on the 470 MW Parron Maam Marang project north of Perth.[1]
The state government cites modelling supported by Boston Consulting Group. It found industrial energy prices could rise 89 per cent by 2032 without new initiatives. The government presents the target as an affordability measure as well as a climate measure.[1]
A Made in WA Energy Affordability Investment Program offers manufacturers low-interest loans of up to A$15 million. Firms can spend the money on solar and battery systems and equipment upgrades. Officials say the equipment upgrades let manufacturers use cheaper energy.[1]
Sanderson calls renewables backed by storage and gas the cheapest, most reliable mix. Gas therefore keeps a firming role, supplying power when wind and solar output falls. Climate Energy Finance head Tim Buckley urges iron ore miners to follow Fortescue and decarbonise their own power.[1]
Unions and investors back the target. UnionsWA Secretary Rikki Hendon wants secure, well-paid renewable jobs for workers who currently depend on coal and gas. Clean Energy Investor Group chief Richie Merzian calls Western Australia the third most attractive state for investment.[1]
Independent satellite monitoring detected persistent methane clouds above Chevron's Gorgon liquefied natural gas plant on Barrow Island. The Tanager-1 satellite recorded the plumes on five consecutive passes since November last year. Observations ranged from about one to eight tonnes of methane an hour.[3]
The latest pass, in late August, averaged about 7.8 tonnes of methane an hour. Methane is a greenhouse gas the United Nations rates 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. The ABC equates that rate to burning more than 110,000 kilograms of coal an hour.[3]
The latest reading far exceeds a super-emitter event under US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. The United Nations warned Chevron, which says satellite data carries a wide range of uncertainty. Chevron also says it is engaging with the UN Environment Programme.[3]
A UN Environment Programme spokesperson says Chevron and the Australian Government have yet to provide formal feedback. Data Desk researcher Louis Goddard says the consistent readings suggest an operational issue near the plant's acid gas removal units. Dr Bruce Norris of the University of Western Australia estimates a few thousand tonnes may have leaked over a year.[3]
Conservation Council of WA director Matt Roberts says state emissions have risen 19 per cent since 2005. He adds that Western Australia remains the only state lacking an interim emissions reduction target. Roberts made those remarks as the Global Citizen NOW summit opened in Perth.[4]
The reports reveal a jurisdictional gap. Methane sits outside Gorgon's federal approval, so the National Environmental Protection Agency referred ABC enquiries to state regulators. The WA Government concedes uncertainty about its role, while its environment department investigates.[3]
Chevron received a similar methane notification in July last year. Carbon capture and storage, designed to bury emissions underground, has drastically underperformed at the project since 2016. Chevron also reported unknown amounts of gas seeping to Barrow Island's surface last year.[3]
Australia helps fund the system that flagged the plumes. Carbon Mapper operates the satellite within the UN's International Methane Emissions Observatory, which lists Australia as a key donor. UNEP will update its public methane data once feedback arrives.[3]
Rainfall across the South West averaged 42.05 millimetres in July, just 37.2 per cent of the long-term average. That ranked as the second-driest July on record, behind 2012. August then ran 62 per cent above average statewide.[5][8]
Perth's A$2.8 billion Alkimos Seawater Desalination Plant reached a marine milestone in September. Tunnel boring machines completed two of Australia's longest undersea tunnels, which carry seawater in and brine out. The plant targets operation in 2028, supplying an initial 50 billion litres of drinking water yearly.[6]
The Government activated harvest water bombers early to meet a heightened fire risk across the Wheatbelt. A two-aircraft strike team now operates from Narrogin, with two more starting in Geraldton and Esperance on 1 November. Last season, harvest fires reached Emergency Warning level, threatening lives and property.[9]
Doctors for the Environment's WA branch reports more than 7000 heat-related hospital admissions and 300 deaths in a decade. The group urges the Cook Government to stop approving gas projects and cut emissions. The doctors warn the state health system will struggle with more heatwave patients.[10]
Western Australia has set a clear direction for its main electricity grid. A 75 per cent renewable target, paired with coal closures, gives investors and workers a measurable goal. Industry loans aim to cushion manufacturers from projected price rises.
Accountability remains less settled. Gorgon's methane plumes, a regulatory gap and a missing interim target leave gas emissions without a clear owner. Chevron cites uncertainty in satellite data, which makes closer measurement essential.
Dry winters, harvest fires and heat illness show the cost of delay. The next test is whether the state matches its grid ambition with enforceable limits on methane and economy-wide emissions.
1. State sets 75 pct renewable energy target as it transitions away from coal by end of decade, RenewEconomy, 27 October 2026. Reports the target, the Collie coal exit, the Boston Consulting Group modelling, the manufacturer loans and stakeholder reactions.
2. Western Australia transmission plan to unlock 2.6 GW of renewable energy, pv magazine Australia, 19 September 2025. Records that renewables supplied 39 per cent of SWIS electricity use in 2024-25, about triple the 2016 share.
3. UN sends warning to Chevron after plumes of methane found over Gorgon project, ABC News, 23 October 2026. Documents the satellite detections, the United Nations alert, the regulatory responses and expert assessments.
4. Civil society urges WA Government to confront WA's role in climate crisis during Global Citizen NOW summit, Conservation Council of WA, October 2026. Supplies the 19 per cent emissions rise since 2005 and the absence of an interim target.
5. Wet start to August after 2nd-driest July on record in southwest WA, Weatherzone, August 2026. Quantifies the South West's July rainfall against the long-term average and the 2012 record.
6. Alkimos Desalination Plant marks marine milestone, Water Corporation, 1 September 2026. Confirms the completed undersea tunnels and the 2028 operating target.
7. Double dolphin stranding highlights growing risks in WA estuaries, Murdoch University, 7 August 2026. Describes the Bunbury strandings and Dr Krista Nicholson's assessment of estuary risks.
8. Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia, August 2026, Bureau of Meteorology, 1 September 2026. Gives statewide August rainfall as 62 per cent above the 1961-1990 average.
9. Aircraft Deployed Early to Protect WA Grain Growers, Mirage News (WA Government release), 27 October 2026. Details the Narrogin strike team, the 1 November deployments and last season's Emergency Warning fires.
10. Doctors call for climate change action, less new gas, AAP. Reports Doctors for the Environment WA's heat hospitalisation and death figures and its call to halt new gas approvals.
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