‘Once-in-a-generation transition’: NSW Labor commits $800m to fast-track transmission lines

The NSW government will invest $800 million to fast-track the construction of overhead power cables to connect regional renewable projects to the grid, and will use $1 billion from the sale of the state’s poles and wires to establish a new Energy Security Corporation.

The investments, to be included in this month’s state budget, are part of the government’s initial push to increase the reliability of NSW’s electricity network during the slower-than-expected transition to clean energy sources.

Premier Chris Minns last week vowed to push ahead with the construction of overhead power cables to connect regional wind and solar projects to the east-coast grid, warning a delayed rollout of transmission lines could undermine the energy transition.

He warned hold-ups in connecting renewable energy projects in regional NSW to the eastern seaboard could also threaten supply and put pressure on power bills.

The $800 million investment in the already established Transmission Acceleration Facility will take the fund to $2 billion and will fast-track early development of the much-needed power lines.

Energy Minister Penny Sharpe described it as a “once-in-a-generation transition that requires massive investment and co-ordination from government and co-operation with the private sector”.

In one of its most significant election commitments, Labor said it would establish an energy corporation seeded with a $1 billion investment from the existing Restart NSW Fund, which contains the proceeds of the sale of poles and wires and energy generators.

Sharpe said the initial seeding, also part of the budget, would accelerate the transition to renewables.

“We’re not just investing in large, grid-scale projects. We want to give households and communities more power to make choices about how they generate and use energy,” Sharpe said.

“That’s why the Energy Security Corporation could invest in projects like community batteries to help more households use their rooftop solar to become self-sufficient.”

The energy corporation will partner with industry on projects that include medium- to long-duration renewable storage solutions such as pumped hydro, as well as community batteries to maximise the benefits of household rooftop solar and any other commercially viable technologies to provide grid stability.

Creating the corporation, the government says, would expand private sector investment in renewable energy in NSW, following the example of the Commonwealth’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

As well as boosting supply to the grid by fast-tracking transmission infrastructure from the renewable zones, the government has also flagged extending the life of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station beyond 2025.

As revealed by the Herald last month, the government on Tuesday accepted a key recommendation in its Electricity Supply and Reliability Check-Up report that “engagement” should begin with Origin Energy on “an extension of the Eraring coal plant beyond 2025″.

However, Sharpe could not say how much the government would need to spend on a deal with Origin Energy to keep its Lake Macquarie power station open until formal talks began.

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