The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) is powering ahead, with an improved transmission corridor that minimises impacts on local landowners and maximises options to unlock more renewable energy in the future.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said as Australia’s first renewable energy zone, the Central-West Orana REZ is pivotal to the NSW Government’s plan to make our electricity system cheaper, cleaner and more reliable.
“Renewable Energy Zones are modern day power stations that will revolutionise the way energy is generated and transmitted across the State,” Mr Kean said.
“The revised study corridor for new transmission infrastructure will minimise impacts on prime agricultural land in the region and enable us to deliver greater capacity for the Central-West Orana REZ to meet future energy needs.”
“As the new route can accommodate additional transmission lines, it gives us options to deliver nearly 4 times the amount of renewable power to the grid with the same infrastructure.”
Minister for Western NSW and Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders said the Central-West Orana REZ will attract around $5.2 billion of private investment and support around 3900 peak construction jobs and 500 ongoing jobs.
“This is about getting the balance right in a way that boosts the economic and employment benefits for local communities, without compromising the assets that make this region so unique,” Mr Saunders said.
Member for the Upper Hunter David Layzell said the NSW Government has redesigned the eastern part of the corridor to avoid significant areas of high-quality agricultural land.
“The majority of the revised corridor is now located on land owned by mining companies or alongside existing transmission lines, minimising the impact on prime agricultural land,” Mr Layzell said.
“This new route is a win for the Upper Hunter community and reflects the Government’s commitment to building new energy infrastructure in the right places.”
The Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) will lead a competitive process to appoint a network operator to design, build, finance and maintain the new transmission infrastructure in the REZ.
EnergyCo will undertake extensive community consultation and technical studies to refine the transmission alignment prior to lodging an Environmental Impact Statement for the project in early 2023.
