New South Wales’ EnergyCo has given four wind, solar and battery projects permission to connect to new power lines in the South West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).
The projects—Origin Energy’s Yanco Delta Wind Farm, Spark Renewables’ Dinawan Energy Hub, Someva’s Pottinger Energy Park and BayWA’s Bullawah Wind Farm—have a combined generation capacity of 3.56GW—enough to power more than 1.6 million homes a year.
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Their selection follows a competitive access rights tender process by AEMO Services Limited. The South-West REZ projects will play a critical role in ensuring reliable, more affordable and clean energy as the state’s existing power stations retire.
NSW Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Penny Sharpe said, “The South West Renewable Energy Zone is expected to drive more than $17 billion in private investment in solar, wind and energy storage projects, and this landmark tender shows the high interest in investing in NSW.
“These projects will help ensure NSW has enough renewable energy generation and storage when coal-fired power stations retire. They also give certainty to host-communities, who will directly benefit from the fees paid by these companies to connect to the REZ.”
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EnergyCo CEO Hannah McCaughey said, “We had strong interest from industry in the South West Renewable Energy Zone access rights tender. The access scheme will also ensure we make the best use of new power lines, to put downward pressure on energy bills for everyone in NSW.
“The first projects are expected to come online from 2027 to 2030, which will help keep the lights on and secure our energy future.”
