New South Wales opens Australia’s biggest renewable energy auction

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The state of New South Wales has launched the auction for Australia’s biggest renewable energy and storage projects that are set to replace the retiring coal-fired power stations.

In a statement, NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy Matt Kean said the auction in line with the state’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap is the first in a series of bi-annual tenders in a span of 10 years.

He said that they aim to develop 12 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 which can provide power to around 5.8 million homes, and 2GW of long-duration storage such as pumped hydro.

“The opening of the first tender marks a major milestone in the delivery of our renewable energy and storage plans, it’s expected to create a jobs and investment boom across NSW,” Kean said.

“NSW is building five massive Renewable Energy Zones across the State, which will produce cheap, clean electricity for generations to come and create major investment opportunities for industry and small businesses,” he added.

He noted these renewable energy projects will augment the state’s power supply as four out of its five coal-fired plants are scheduled to retire in the next 11 years. 

Aside from this, Kean said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also pushed power prices which calls for the acceleration of plans to reduce reliance on generation tied with the volatile international commodity prices.

The NSW government said the Roadmap is seen to result in savings of around A$130 annually on average on the typical household electricity bill, and A$340 on the average small business electricity bill between 2023 and 2040.