Households across NSW are expected to save $40 per year on their electricity bills and the State will have one of the highest reliability targets in the world under the NSW Electricity Strategy, released today.
Energy Minister Matt Kean said the Strategy will ensure reliable and affordable electricity supply for the people of NSW, particularly in peak summer periods.
“We want to create a competitive, low-cost market that delivers resilient energy supply while putting downward pressure on electricity prices,” Mr Kean said.
“Not only does this Strategy help us achieve that, it will attract $8 billion in investment for emerging energy technologies in NSW, diversifying our energy supply and creating jobs for the future.”
The Strategy includes a new Energy Security Safeguard to drive the roll-out of energy efficiency technologies and smart appliances that use electricity when it is cheap and off-peak, and an Energy Security Target to ensure there is enough capacity in the electricity grid on the hottest days, even with the two largest generating units offline.
It will also include a plan to deliver Australia’s first coordinated Renewable Energy Zone in the Central-West to support the new generation needed to get energy bills down.
“As our existing power generators approach the end of their lives, we need to ensure low-cost alternatives are coming online,” Mr Kean said.
“By focusing on reliability, we can ensure that we can get the benefits of renewables without the reliability problems we have seen in other states.
“While there will always be extreme events which impact the grid’s reliability, our Electricity Security Target will mean that changes to the State’s energy mix do not come at the expense of our system’s reliability.”
The NSW Electricity Strategy is available here and is published ahead of today’s COAG Energy Council meeting in Perth.
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