The government of New South Wales plans to set up 12 more solar farms which are expected to boost the nations lead in solar power investments.
If approved, the new solar farm projects will generate in excess of 1,000 MW of solar capacity; enough to sufficiently power the electricity consumption of 365,000 homes in the state.
“The 1000 megawatts is on top of the 660 megawatts that will be generated by 11 other solar farms that the NSW Government has already given the green light since 2011,” said Anthony Roberts, Minister for Planning and Housing.
“Our aim is for a secure, reliable, affordable and clean energy future and projects such as these are great opportunities that enable us to deliver on this.”
The 200 megawatts Sunraysia Solar Farm is one of the proposed projects located near the Balranald town – it almost doubled the capacity produced by Australia’s biggest operating solar farm situated at Nyngan (102MW).
Besides the huge renewable energy capacities generated, these proposed solar farm projects are expected to create an unprecedented jobs bonanza.
“If approved, these proposals could generate sustainable power and local jobs for towns such as Gilgandra, Hillston, Narrabri, Armidale, Coleambally, Gulgong, Walgett, Jemalong, Balranald, Nyngan and Hay,” said Don Harwin, Minister for Resources and Energy and Utilities.
According to statistics, the construction of Nyngan project created 250 jobs.
Of course it’s possible that the dozen proposals could raise many ifs and some biffo with the nearby Queensland state in relation to the “national solar leader” claim. In spite of this, it is positive to see the NSW government’s level of excitement and enthusiasm displayed in the above chirpy infographic.
The latest data from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator further reveals that New South Wales has more than 357,000 solar PV systems. This places the state second overall after Queensland which has a record 500,000+ installations.
NSW also boasts over 262,000 installations of solar hot water systems across the state—an area it continues to outshine Queensland which has only fitted 259,000 systems.
