The Climate Council is urging the NSW Government to accelerate renewables as the closure of Eraring looms.
With Australia’s largest coal-fired power station due to wrap up operations in 2025, the organisation believes NSW Premier Chris Minns and his team should throw everything it’s got at ramping up natural energy sources and storage.
CEO Amanda McKenzie said the slated end of the Lake Macquarie facility must be upheld for NSW to stay on track to meet its emissions reduction targets.
“Now is the time for Mr Minns to fast-track the move towards affordable, clean energy sources like wind, solar, batteries and pumped hydro,” she stated.
“The renewables boom is our best shot at tackling the climate crisis.
“With the right policies, NSW can create thousands of new clean energy jobs, drive down power bills and continue to deliver reliable electricity supply for homes and businesses.”
Ms McKenzie outlined three key steps the government could take immediately to ensure reliability and lower costs as coal-fired power stations continued to close.
“First, we need them to task the energy market operator with urgently bringing on more renewables and storage,” she said.
“They can do so by fast-tracking tenders for new capacity, releasing a new tender for the 191 megawatts needed to fill the reliability gap caused by the exit of Eraring, and expanding NSW projects underwritten by the federal Capacity Investment Scheme.
“The government should also hurry up and approve the 2,300 megawatts of wind and solar projects that are waiting for approval to connect to the existing transmission network.
“They can actively engage with developers to get these projects underway, too.
“Further, the NSW Government should help large energy users like households, businesses and industry use energy in smarter and more efficient ways.
“This includes a large energy efficiency package for social and public housing, incentives for commercial batteries and demand response, and support for industrial load shifting.
“The renewable energy transformation is underway, but it needs leadership from the NSW Government.
“With the right policies now, Eraring’s closure can be managed smoothly while securing more affordable and reliable clean power.”
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