ENDING ENERGY DEPENDENCE:

Western Australia is calling for proposals to help develop the state's first "disconnected microgrids" - isolated, self-supported networks powering small towns that operate independently from the rest of the grid, and comprise at least 90% renewables.

The idea is to take whole towns off the grid - saving money from having to upgrade ageing poles and wires that are vulnerable to winds, storms and bushfires.

It is part of Western Power's long mooted "modular grid" and is effectively the end of the old hub and spoke model built around large centralised generation that dominated Australia's power system for decades.

It has already been estimated that tens of thousands of remote and regional customers - individuals and communities - could be served with cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power by having renewables-based micro-grids, rather than relying on power sent from centralised generators hundreds of kilometres away.

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