The New South Wales (NSW) government has committed AU$28 million (US$18.3 million) to establish a new Renewables Manufacturing Hub in Blacktown, Western Sydney, Australia.
The state government also confirmed that metals recycling company Sell & Parker is contributing an additional AU$38 million in private investment, cumulating in an AU$66 million package for the manufacturing facility.
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The manufacturing facility will produce components for solar, wind and transmission infrastructure, including thousands of torque tubes, mounts, and brackets for utility-scale solar PV power plants. It will also produce 200 monopoles annually for transmission infrastructure as well as 780 turbine anchors for the wind sector.
NSW minister for climate change and energy Penny Sharpe said the hub exemplifies the state’s commitment to building future domestic industries.
“The government is driving new jobs and this new Renewables Manufacturing Hub is a perfect example of the way NSW is building the industries of the future right here at home,” Sharpe said.
“This facility will not only deliver the steel components needed for renewable energy projects across the state, but it will also strengthen Western Sydney’s role as a powerhouse of innovation and manufacturing.”
The project is expected to create 143 full-time jobs over its lifetime, with 116 workers employed at the manufacturing facility. The funding comes from the Renewable Manufacturing Construction Ready Stream, part of the NSW government’s AU$480 million Net Zero Manufacturing Initiative.
The hub is expected to be operational by late 2027.
Opposition criticises urban location choice
The NSW Nationals, the state branch of the federal National Party, have strongly criticised the government’s decision to locate the manufacturing hub in Western Sydney rather than in regional areas where renewable energy projects are being built.
NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders questioned the government’s priorities, arguing that regional communities bear the brunt of renewable energy development without receiving proportional economic benefits.
“It’s hard to fathom why the Premier and Environment Minister are putting this investment in Blacktown over the bush, when the city won’t feel any of the impact of this transition but will reap all the benefits,” Saunders said.
“It’s our communities that are hosting these projects in their backyards and it’s our communities that are suffering for it, yet they are the ones that miss out.”
The NSW Nationals claim to have positioned themselves as the “only political party solely dedicated to the people who live in regional, rural and remote communities”.
Saunders has previously called for a moratorium on renewable energy projects, citing concerns about inadequate consultation and growing community opposition, particularly in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).
Earlier this year, the state-owned Energy Corporation of New South Wales (EnergyCo) confirmed that 7.15 GW of renewable energy and energy storage projects have been granted access rights to the Central-West Orana REZ.
“I have always said it’s regional NSW that is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to renewables, and impacted residents, businesses, and communities need to be fairly compensated,” Saunders added.
Recent solar PV developments in New South Wales
This investment aligns with NSW’s increased renewable energy targets announced earlier this year, with eyes to deploy 16GW of new clean power generation by 2030. The state has been actively working to position itself as a renewable energy manufacturing hub to support its energy transition goals.
The announcement follows several significant solar developments in NSW, including the recent commissioning of the 300MW Wellington North solar PV plant by Lightsource bp.
The company is also developing co-located battery storage at its 585MWdc solar facility in the state.
NSW has seen increasing activity in solar-plus-storage projects. Developer Pacific Energy recently commissioned a 26MW solar-plus-storage site at the Atlas-Campaspe mine, marking what the company claims is the first off-grid solar-plus-storage plant to power a mine in the state.
The manufacturing hub announcement comes as Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) continues to break renewable energy records, recently achieving an instantaneous renewables share of 78.6% on 22 September, surpassing the previous day’s record of 77.9%.
