New solar farm to power 200,000 homes

The Federal Labor Government has ticked off a new solar farm in Central West New South Wales which will generate enough energy to power 200,000 NSW homes.

The Sandy Creek Solar Farm, located 25 kilometres southwest of Dunedoo in the central west of NSW, includes the construction of a 840MW solar farm and battery energy storage system.

This is another big step in the Government’s plan to make Australia a renewable energy superpower.
Australians saw how a decade of political fights stopped action on climate change.

Under the Liberals and Nationals, 24 coal plants with a total capacity of 26.7 GW announced their closure dates, but the previous government failed to deliver any policy to ensure replacement capacity.

At the last election, Australians voted for an end to it. That’s exactly what Labor has delivered.

The project will save up to nearly 1,400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, which is equivalent to taking 440,000 cars off the road for a year.

We know projects like this are vital to boosting renewables, but they are also great for local jobs and economies. This project will support up to 600 jobs in construction and 10 ongoing jobs.

The project has been green-lit following assessment under Australia’s national environment law.

Quotes attributable to Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek:

“If it wasn’t for the political fights of the last decade, Australia would now be less reliant on fossil fuels.

“We want to unlock Australia’s potential to be a renewable energy superpower. It’s a huge task – we’re working overtime to get there.

“I’ve now ticked off 45 renewable energy projects with another 128 in the approvals pipeline.

“This is an exciting time. As well as lower emissions, it means cheaper, cleaner power for all Australians.”