Towns get ‘down payment’ to shoulder renewable change
Farid Farid and Luke Costin |
Tennis clubs, kindergartens and town infrastructure will get a boost amid recognition of regional areas’ outsized role in the nation’s renewable energy transformation.
A $60 million “down payment” was poured into 54 local projects on Friday located near the first of more than 40 areas across Australia being classified as renewable energy zones (REZ).
Getting 15 gigawatts of wind and solar projects online by 2050 in central west NSW is part of the state’s roadmap to weaning itself off coal and gas.
Regional communities have voiced concern about the potential drawbacks of hosting the project clusters without long-term benefits.
Some 43 proposed zones have been short-listed by the market operator, including 10 in South Australia and eight each in Victoria and Queensland.
Construction on the Central West Orana REZ kicks off in a few months, prompting the NSW government to make a “first down payment on legacy-building local projects” including sporting and town infrastructure, housing, preschools and health services.
“These grants are about making sure regional communities at the heart of the renewable energy transformation share in its benefits,” NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe.
One of the local grant recipients is a preschool in Dunedoo, a small town of about 1000 people four hours north of Sydney.
“The funding we’re receiving is instrumental in kitting out a new classroom for local children,” director Robyn Croft said.
“We’ll use it to purchase necessary furniture, as well as sensory materials and equipment to help with health services from professionals such as occupational and speech therapists.”
Other projects include whitegoods for a showground, floodlighting for sports grounds, mental health programs and several large town water infrastructure upgrades.
Country mayors have estimated that up to four in five rural councils are impacted in some way by the construction and operation of renewable energy generators.
They have also highlighted that solar and wind projects in particular, generate an economic “sugar hit” during the construction phase but few local jobs afterwards.
“While we appreciate and support the government’s goal to increase energy generation in NSW through renewable developments, it is important to remember that these developments are happening in the backyards of country councils,” the Country Mayors Association of NSW told an inquiry in 2024.
The Central West Orana REZ will deliver at least 4.5 gigawatts of new network capacity by 2028, enough to power 1.8 million homes.
The government claims it will revitalise the region with 5000 construction jobs and about $20 billion in private investment in the next five years, while slicing about $130 a year off the average household bill.
AAP
