Cataby Power Station designated priority project by Western Australian minister

The Cataby Power Station, a gas-fired power station of up to 500 megawatts proposed by Alinta Energy (Cataby) Pty Ltd, has been designated a priority project by the Minister for State Development, the Hon. David Michael, MLA. The designation was made under section 30 of the State Development Act 2025 and published in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 125 of 2 October 2026, under the reference PR401, in the Premier and Cabinet section at page 2237.

The notice states that the Minister had regard to the object of the Act and is satisfied the project is of strategic or economic significance to the State of Western Australia, or to an area of the State, for the purposes of section 30(2). The instrument was made with the approval of the Premier, as required by section 30(1), and follows consultation with the person or public authority proposed to be nominated as the proponent, as required by section 30(4).

The project at a glance

Schedule 1 to the Priority Project Designation Notice sets out the designated development in four points:

• Name: Cataby Power Station.
• Location: 20km south-west of Dandaragan, within the Shire of Dandaragan in Western Australia.
• Proponent: Alinta Energy (Cataby) Pty Ltd (ABN 19 657 255 386).
• Nature of project: a gas-fired power station development with a generation capacity of up to 500MW.

How the designation was made

The notice is a short, three-clause instrument. Clause 1 designates the project described in Schedule 1 as a priority project pursuant to section 30 of the Act. Clause 2 records the two statutory steps taken by the Minister: satisfaction as to the strategic or economic significance of the project, and consultation with the proposed proponent. Clause 3 records the Premier’s approval.

The instrument is signed by David Michael in his capacity as Minister for State Development and appears in the Premier and Cabinet notices of the gazette, alongside a separate ministerial acting arrangement notice published under the Interpretation Act 1984.

What it means for the region and the sector

The designation places the Cataby Power Station inside the State’s priority project framework, a mechanism that identifies developments of strategic or economic importance to Western Australia and its regions. For the Shire of Dandaragan, the notice formally ties a generation project of up to 500MW to land 20km south-west of the town, making the shire a named jurisdiction in the designation.

For Alinta Energy (Cataby) Pty Ltd, the notice confirms the company as the proponent consulted under section 30(4) and identifies it by name and Australian Business Number in the gazette. The project is described as gas-fired, with capacity expressed as a ceiling of up to 500MW rather than a fixed figure.

The notice itself sets out no conditions, milestones or expiry date, and does not specify a commencement provision; it records only the designation, the statutory tests applied and the approvals obtained.

The publication of PR401 gives the designation public and legal effect through the State’s official gazette, which is published by the Government Printer on Tuesday and Friday of each week. Readers in the energy sector, local government and landholding circles in the Dandaragan district now have an official reference point for the project’s status.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 125, 2 October 2026, Premier and Cabinet, p. 2237 (official reference: PR401).