The Energy Corporation of New South Wales (EnergyCo) has confirmed that construction on Australia’s first Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) has started.
EnergyCo said that ACEREZ, a consortium of ACCIONA, COBRA and Endeavour Energy, had started “major” construction works to deliver the infrastructure project.
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Specifically, work has started on the Barigan Creek Switching Station, a crucial facility for the Central-West Orana REZ. This facility will connect multiple transmission lines and help manage the efficient flow of electricity across the network.
Construction has also started on an energy hub at Merotherie, which will serve as a central switchboard to efficiently gather, manage and distribute renewable energy from throughout the REZ.
Hannah McCaughey, CEO of EnergyCo, hailed the start of construction on the REZ, with the zone set to fund community initiatives and generate thousands of jobs.
“This is a landmark initiative that puts New South Wales on the map as a leader in renewable energy innovation. Granting access rights to these renewable energy projects will almost double New South Wales’ current operating large-scale wind and solar generation,” McCaughey said.
The Central-West Orana REZ is being built on roughly 20,000 km2 near Dunedoo, Mudgee, and Dubbo, a rural area about 330km northwest of Sydney.
The REZ is the first in Australia to begin construction. By 2028, it will deliver at least 4.5GW of new network capacity. It will also help connect 7.7GW of wind and solar PV generation projects to the grid, an increase from the initial 6GW proposed.
PV Tech has previously reported that the New South Wales government is developing at least five separate multi-gigawatt REZ facilities connected to the grid and partially using long-duration energy storage (LDES) to replace traditional centralised power plants.
The five REZs include the Hunter-Central Coast, the South-West, New England, Central-West Orana, and Illawarra.
The REZs are not restricted to New South Wales but are scattered across the country’s states. Queensland, for instance, recently published a roadmap detailing how it would develop its 12 REZs. Victoria, on the other hand, has identified six REZ locations.
