The Climate Council calls on the NSW Government to prioritise renewable energy and storage to power the State beyond the Eraring Power Station closure and towards a clean, affordable energy future.
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie emphasised the need to maintain Eraring’s 2025 closure for NSW to meet emissions reduction targets and transition to affordable, reliable zero emissions energy.
McKenzie stated that Premier Chris Minns must now expedite the transition to affordable, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, batteries, and pumped hydro.
“The renewable energy 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,” she said.
As coal-fired power plants continue to close, the Climate Council has identified three critical steps the NSW Government should immediately take to ensure energy reliability and lower costs.
“First, we need the Government to task the energy market operator with urgently bringing on more renewables and storage. It 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,” McKenzie said.
According to her, the State Government should expedite the approval of 2,300-megawatt wind and solar projects to connect to the existing transmission network, collaborating with developers.
“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,” she stated.
“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,” she added.
The Climate Council continues to urge the NSW Government to expedite renewable energy projects to address the climate crisis and guarantee Eraring can close as scheduled.
