Sharpe seeks to smooth road to renewable zones with $128m community “downpayment”

The New South Wales Labor government has made an early downpayment of $128 million into the delivery of “community projects and employment opportunities” in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone, in a bid to smooth the way for the state’s exit from coal.

State energy minister Penny Sharpe said on Friday that the funding, spread over the nest four years, aimed to “bring forward” the benefits of the construction of new transmission and renewable generation projects in the REZ.

The Central West Orana zone is the first of five REZs that have or will be created by the state government to host new wind, solar and storage projects to replace the five coal fired power stations that could all close within the next decade.

The CWO zone – based around Dubbo – was to be sized at 3GW, but the state government through EnergyCo is now looking to boost this to 4.5GW initially and then to 6GW by 2038.

One of the major hurdles to the NSW government’s delivery of its Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap and renewable energy zones has been gaining social licence.

Already, the CWO REZ has had to modify its route to take into account landowner concerns, leading to a significant increase in the costs of the project and potential significant delays.

Sharpe says EnergyCo will work with local councils, community and First Nations organisations, renewable developers and other stakeholders to identify priorities and long-term legacy programs for the funds.

The minister says the $128 million is just first installment from “hundreds of millions of dollars of funding” that will  be made available over the next 30 years for the communities hosting renewable energy projects in their area.

“The transformation of our electricity system is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to foster long term prosperity in our regional communities which are central to the Roadmap,” Sharpe said on Friday.

“This funding will ensure the communities hosting the Central-West Orana REZ start receiving benefits well before construction begins.”