An electricity “capacity crunch” is coming this Christmas, because of the unexpected closure of a gas plant and coal supply problems, he said.

But emissions from the WA electricity grid are less than a third of the state’s total, compared to 60 per cent for the east coast where coal power plants still dominate the power supply.

And WA gas is a mere $6 a gigajoule, Johnston said.

“We’re all very jealous,” Victoria’s Minister for Energy, Environment, Climate Action and Solar Homes Lily D’Ambrosio said.

The global energy shock caused by the exit of Russian gas led to Victoria’s wholesale gas prices spiralling up to $800 a gigajoule, or 10 times usual levels, before regulators stepped in to cap prices in June.

But if heavy industries replace gas with solar, wind and green hydrogen, the load on the WA grid will increase.

For example, industrial giant Alcoa uses gas to make alumina and if they were to electrify that’s equivalent to 2 gigawatts of supply, which is an enormous swing in demand, he said.

There are also talks with private investments about an integrated electricity grid in the Pilbara.

“The scale in the north-west is just mind-boggling,” Johnston said.

D’Ambrosio said offshore wind will be a “game changer” for energy independence.

Victoria is aiming to build Australia’s first offshore wind farms and have at least 2GW of offshore wind – enough to power 1.5 million homes – online by 2032, 4GW by 2035 and 9GW for 2040.

But the workforce is a challenge for all states, as governments and business look for skilled workers to build and run new energy assets.

“We don’t support temporary immigration but we strongly support ongoing permanent migration,” Johnston said.

“It adds to your skills base and builds your community at the same time,” he said.

-AAP

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