Investment vehicle races off with $34b renewables push
Blessed with wind and solar resources, renewable energy companies are clamoring for a place in NSW’s prizes amid a global oil crisis.
More than 15 projects with a total potential investment of $34.4 billion are being reviewed at the newly established Investment Delivery Authority.
The government hopes dozens of projects over the next few decades will produce enough electricity to power 5.5 million homes, with the extension of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired plant, to 2029.
Coal still remains the largest export with approximately 33 billion dollars, but the state wants to strengthen its green identity with 43 projects in the last three years, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030.
The IDA’s four-man panel is overruling councils and fast-tracking planning approvals for businesses amid complaints that making major investments in NSW is too complex and time-consuming.
“These approved projects will mean more reliable and affordable energy for NSW and more jobs and investment across the state, particularly in regional NSW,” Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said in a statement on Wednesday. he said.
Renewable sources provided 40 percent of the energy in the National Electricity Market; Australia was aiming for a target of 82 percent by the end of the decade.
Two hotel projects worth $482 million have also been approved to move to the next phase.
Finance Minister Daniel Mookhey, who will appear at a budget forecasts hearing in parliament on Wednesday, said long-term economic growth was on the horizon as NSW signaled to global markets it was “open for business”.
NSW accounted for 65 per cent of Australia’s venture capital investment in 2024 and is home to five of the eight “unicorns”, private start-ups valued at over $1 billion.
