The City of Sydney has welcomed the signing of one of the largest renewable energy deals for local government.
25 NSW councils have agreed to a deal with electricity retailer Zen Energy, which will see the councils’ electricity supplied by 3 NSW solar farms.
Brokered by the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils and worth approximately $180m, the landmark retail electricity agreement will deliver over 214 gigawatt hours of electricity a year to 25 councils across the state.
The City of Sydney has been powered by 100% renewable electricity for almost 2 years after signing a similar agreement with Flow Power in July 2020.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said it was fantastic to see different councils coming together in the fight against climate change.
It’s wonderful to see so many local government organisations collaborating in order to maximise their efforts to lower global carbon emissions.
“We’ve been certified carbon neutral since 2011 and our operations have been running on 100% renewable electricity for almost two years.
“With overwhelming climate research telling us that emissions need to plummet now, these are the energy agreements we need to cut the carbon emissions of local council operations.”
Nineteen of the participating councils have opted to go 100% renewable under the agreement, with their total electricity supply covered by renewable energy from the Moree, Hillston and Nevertire solar farms.
The agreement starts in 2022 and runs to 2026, with an option to extend to 2030.
The participating councils are: Bayside, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Georges River, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, North Sydney, Parramatta, Port Stephens, Randwick, Ryde, Singleton, Sutherland, Tamworth, Waverley, Willoughby and Woollahra.
Published 25 February 2022
