The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government today announced a raft of green power initiatives to make it easier for apartments to go solar and keep power bills down.
Measures include driving forward the State’s renewable energy pipeline by working with the private sector, adding more renewable infrastructure and reducing landfill from solar and battery systems.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is committed to clean, reliable and affordable energy solutions for everyone across the State.
“We are lowering the voting threshold from 75 to 50 per cent to more easily install solar panels, battery storage and electric vehicle charging points in strata buildings,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We want everyone to have access to renewable energy and lower energy bills.”
Minister for Energy Don Harwin said the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government would also commit an additional $20 million to the Emerging Energy Program, bringing the total investment to $75 million in the renewable technologies of the future.
“Our Emerging Energy Program will work with the private sector to co-fund around 400 megawatts of new large scale, on-demand renewable energy projects, like batteries, pumped hydro and hydrogen,” Mr Harwin said.
“These new projects will add to our pipeline of close to 19,000 megawatts of renewable projects worth more than $26 billion – a huge pipeline of potential jobs and investment.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals believe in practical action on climate change and our environment in partnership with the private sector and communities across NSW to deliver our goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”
Ms Berejiklian and Mr Harwin also announced $10 million for a new recycling fund for solar panels and battery systems.
“Solar panels have a life of about 30 years and across Australia, roughly 30,000 tonnes will enter landfill by 2030,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We want to recycle and re-use materials in solar panels and battery systems as NSW transitions towards cleaner energy.
“This new fund will help to build on the $800 million of waste and recycling initiatives currently being funded by the NSW Liberals & Nationals, including the Return & Earn Container Deposit Scheme.”
The NSW Liberals & Nationals already have a firm commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and these new, practical initiatives will help to further that ambition.
The NSW Liberals & Nationals are already taking action by:
- Supercharging the roll-out of solar energy and battery storage for 300,000 homes
- Investing $1.4 billion under the Climate Change Fund to reduce emissions and help households and businesses save energy
- Progressing 24 pumped hydro projects with a total generation capacity of around 7,000 megawatts – three times the capacity of Snowy 2.0
- Approving one of Australia’s largest wind farms at Liverpool Plains, which will power nearly 500,000 homes and deliver 800 jobs
- Providing support for 51 renewable energy projects worth close to $10 billion in investment and 6,500 megawatts of capacity, since 2013
- Offsetting all emissions from the Sydney Metro Northwest through investing in the Beryl Solar Farm
- Planting 5 million trees in Greater Sydney by 2030