• Aussie company to install 98 EV chargers at 49 different locations around WA
  • The first EV charger will be installed in November with the network fully operational by 2024
  • GNX acquires second battery development project 

 

New electric vehicle charging stations will be installed at 49 different locations along a 6,600km stretch of highway in Western Australia from Kununurra in the north to Esperance in the south and Eucla to the east, thanks to a new $4.1 million project.

The McGowan Government has awarded Aussie company Jet Charge the contract to deliver 98 EV chargers, which boast up to 150-kilowatt DC, allowing drivers to top up their EV’s in as little as 15 minutes along what will be deemed as ‘the world’s longest, continuously connected electric highway’.

 

Part of the State Government’s $43.5m investment to boost EV charging infrastructure around WA, the first charging station is expected to be installed in November this year, with the network to be fully operational by 2024.

Energy Minister Bill Johnston says when the project is complete, there will be charging averaging less than 200 kilometres apart, ensuring EV owners can drive around without range anxiety.

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GENEX POWER (ASX:GNX)

Yesterday, GNX announced the acquisition of its second battery development project – the Bulli Creek Clean Energy Project – with Solar Choice.

The project, located southwest of Toowoomba in Queensland, is anticipated to be developed as a large-scale battery energy system of up to 400MW/1,600MW in the first phase with a final investment decision targeted for the second half of CY2024.

GNX is in discussions with potential joint development partners to support the project, which will include providing a significant contribution to the external development costs and equity funding of the capital expenditures.

With two other large scale storage projects up its sleeve – the 250MW/2,000MWh Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project and the 50MW/100MWh Bouldercombe Battery Project – Genex has gained a robust understanding of the business case for storage in Queensland.

“The events in the National Electricity Market in recent months have only highlighted the urgent need for dispatchable energy storage capacity to manage the transition to a net-zero economy,” it said in an announcement on Wednesday.

Earlier this month Genex rejected a take-over bid by Skip Essential Infrastructure Fund headed by Kim Jackson, the wife of Atlassian-co founder Scott Farquhar.

Shares in the company skyrocketed heavenwards on the indicative offer to acquire shares at 23c a share last week, valuing the company at more than $320 million – a 70% premium to the company’s closing price.

And yet the takeover offer undervalues Genex, the company says, and therefore is not in the best interest of shareholders.