The State Government has moved to enable the $1.2 billion sale of the Bluewaters power station near Collie to a consortium comprising Sumitomo Corporation and Kansai Electric Power.

As foreshadowed by WestBusiness this morning, Premier and State Development Minister Colin Barnett announced today the Government had consented to documents allowing the sale to go ahead.

The sale was prompted by the collapse of Ric Stowe's debt-laden coal empire in 2010.

It has dragged on because of problems with resolving a dispute with its coal supplier Griffin Coal, and a related tussle with Perdaman Chemicals, the former of which is now settled.

Because of the importance of coal-fired power to WA, any deal in Collie needs the Premier's approval, but had to be completed before the Government goes into caretaker mode next week.