As Energy-Storage.news reported when the fund opened for proposals last month, the NWEF was established to support localised energy solutions in the North West Minerals Province ahead of any confirmed construction timeline for the Western Link section of CopperString, the transmission project that would eventually connect the region to the NEM.
The fund’s investment guidelines require proposals to demonstrate an improved cost of delivered power, with technology-neutrality and a pathway to commercial viability without requiring the Western Link to proceed first.
What ‘improved cost’ means in practice
For a region where delivered electricity costs are shaped by diesel and gas-fired generation operating on isolated networks, cost reduction is not a theoretical objective.
Shojaie outlines three principles QIC is applying to assess whether a proposal genuinely moves the dial.
