Renewable Energy Zones
Renewable Energy Zones
The NSW Government’s Electricity Strategy and Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap set out a plan to deliver the state’s first 5 Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) in the Central-West Orana, New England, South-West, Hunter-Central Coast and Illawarra regions. This builds on the NSW Transmission Infrastructure Strategy and supports the implementation of the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan.
Watch the short video below to learn more about NSW Renewable Energy Zones.
NSW Renewable Energy Zones will play a vital role in delivering affordable, reliable energy generation to help replace the State’s existing power stations as they come to their scheduled end of operational life.
The NSW Government is committed to delivering the best outcomes for all stakeholders.
REZs are modern-day power stations. They combine renewable energy generation such as wind and solar, storage such as batteries, and high-voltage poles and wires to deliver energy to the homes, businesses and industries that need it.
By connecting multiple generators and storage in the same location, REZs capitalise on economies of scale to deliver cheap, reliable and clean electricity for homes and businesses in NSW.
The Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) is the NSW Government-controlled statutory authority that will lead the delivery of NSW REZs.
EnergyCo will coordinate REZ transmission, generation, firming and storage projects to deliver efficient, timely and coordinated investment.
EnergyCo will take a holistic view of REZ planning and consultation and will work with communities to ensure the benefits of investment are equitably shared within host regions.
EnergyCo will have a number of key functions, including:
- leading community and stakeholder engagement
- contributing to strategic, holistic planning for each REZ
- administering an access framework for the REZ that delivers benefit to generators
- administering a competitive process to coordinate generation in the REZ
- coordinating the technical design of the REZ in consultation with program partners and generators
- promoting local development opportunities, including engaging with local community and industry.
The NSW Government expects that REZs will deliver multiple benefits to NSW, including:
- more reliable energy from significant amounts of new energy supply
- energy bill savings from reduced wholesale electricity costs
- emissions reduction from a cleaner energy sector
- community partnership from strategic planning and best practice engagement and benefit sharing.
The NSW Government is in the development phase for the State’s first REZ in the Central-West Orana region, around Dubbo and Wellington on the land of the Wiradjuri, Wailwan and Kamilaroi people.
You can download the GIS files of the Central-West Orana REZ geographical area boundary and view the map here.
The REZ will unlock 3 gigawatts of new network capacity by the mid-2020s, enough to power 1.4 million homes. New transmission infrastructure will enable generators (such as solar and wind farms) participating in the REZ to export electricity to the rest of the network.
It is expected to bring up to $5.2 billion in private investment to the Central-West Orana region by 2030. At its peak, this REZ is expected to support around 3900 construction jobs in the region.
The NSW Government chose the Central-West Orana region because the region benefits from relatively low transmission build costs due to its proximity to the existing backbone transmission network. It also has a strong mix of energy resources and there is significant investor interest.
In June 2020, the NSW Government received 113 registrations of interest for the Central-West Orana REZ, representing 27 gigawatts of new energy generation and storage projects. This is 9 times the amount required to deliver the REZ.
The importance of the Central-West Orana REZ was recognised in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s 2020 Integrated System Plan as an ‘actionable’ transmission project. This means it is deemed to be a critical project to address cost, security and reliability issues across the entire National Electricity Market.
Central-West Orana REZ declaration
The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) was formally declared on 5 November 2021.
The declaration is the first step in formalising the REZ under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020. It sets out the intended network capacity (size), geographical area (location) and infrastructure that will make up the REZ.
Role of EnergyCo
Under the declaration, EnergyCo has been appointed as the Infrastructure Planner for the REZ.
EnergyCo will now lead development of the Central-West Orana REZ, including community and stakeholder consultation, property negotiations and environmental planning approvals.
Transgrid will continue to support EnergyCo, including upgrades to its existing network.
During 2022, EnergyCo will undertake a competitive procurement process to appoint a Network Operator to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new REZ transmission infrastructure.
A parallel process will be undertaken to allocate access rights to foundation wind and solar projects that will connect to the new REZ infrastructure.
Revised study corridor for the Central-West Orana REZ
During late 2020 and 2021, Transgrid engaged with local landowners and communities on a preliminary study corridor for new network infrastructure to support the Central-West Orana REZ. Moving forward, EnergyCo will be responsible for this engagement as part of its role as Infrastructure Planner for the REZs in NSW.
EnergyCo has considered community feedback received to date and the availability of renewable energy resources to develop a revised study corridor for the Central-West Orana REZ network infrastructure. We have prepared a Project Overview which provides further information.
Community consultation
We are seeking feedback from local landowners and communities about the revised study corridor for the Central-West Orana REZ. This feedback will be critical in helping us determine the locations of the new energy hubs and transmission lines within the study corridor.
Contact us
For more information or to provide feedback on the revised study corridor, you can contact the Central-West Orana REZ project team on 0482 061 006 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or by emailing info [at] cworez.net.au.
More Resources
- The NSW Government's February 2022 project overview for the Central-West Orana REZ
- The NSW Government's January 2022 project update on the Central-West Orana REZ (PDF 266kB).
- The NSW Government's December 2020 project update on the Central-West Orana REZ (PDF 545kB).
Access schemes are a key part of the NSW Government’s work to coordinate and encourage investment in REZs, and to realise the objectives of the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap and its enabling legislation. The Central-West Orana (CWO) REZ Access Scheme will be the first of its kind in the National Electricity Market.
REZ access schemes will:
- govern the volume of projects that may be granted access rights to connect to REZ scheme infrastructure and define the terms and conditions of the access rights
- enable investment in new, low-cost generation and storage projects by providing increased certainty of curtailment risks for access right holders while maintaining an efficient level of utilisation of the REZ scheme infrastructure
- create a streamlined connection process for projects that will improve connection timeframes, provide greater certainty and reduce re-work and costs compared to the open access connection process
- provide controls for projects connecting to other specified infrastructure identified in the CWO REZ Declaration to preserve commercial incentives for access right holders.
By managing generation and storage connections in the REZs, the access schemes will enable active coordination of network, generation and storage investment. This will help optimise the network, reducing bills for energy consumers, and improving planning outcomes for local communities.
The NSW REZ Access Standards intended to apply to CWO REZ Consultation
The Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo), in collaboration with Transgrid and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), is seeking feedback on draft REZ Access Standards intended to apply to Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (CWO REZ) for the first tender of access rights allocation for access to the CWO REZ access rights network, as part of implementing the CWO REZ Access Scheme under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.
The NSW REZ Access Standards intended to apply to Central West Orana REZ Consultation Paper can be read here.
Appendix A – Template for NSW REZ Access Standards intended to apply to CWO REZ
Appendix B – Have your say feedback form
More information
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment is committed to delivering the best outcomes for all stakeholders. In December 2021, the Department released the REZ access rights and scheme design: Central-West Orana Consultation Paper for public discussion.
Submissions closed on 14 February 2022 and the Department is currently reviewing feedback. We will continue to work closely with industry, communities, market bodies and other stakeholders to design the REZ Access Scheme. Your feedback from this paper will support the timely development of regulation, the access scheme declaration process and readiness for the tender.
Join our mailing list here.
The NSW Government is in the early stages of planning a REZ in the New England region around Armidale on the lands of the Biripi, Dainggatti, Nganyaywana, Ngarabal, and Gumbainggir people. This REZ will deliver up to 8 gigawatts of new network capacity.
You can download the GIS files of the New England REZ geographical area boundary and view the map here.
New England has some of the best natural energy resources in the country and some of the state’s finest potential sites for pumped-hydro development, and has strong investor interest. The New England REZ is expected to deliver around $10.7 billion in investment and around 830 operational jobs, as well as 1,250 construction jobs each year. The NSW Government's Emerging Energy Program has recently awarded pre-investment funding to several pumped-hydro projects in the New England region, including the critical state significant infrastructure Oven Mountain Pumped Hydro project.
The region is also close to the existing high voltage power lines that connect the NSW east coast and Queensland. This provides opportunities to increase NSW’s own energy resilience and to export excess energy to Queensland. The NSW Government has committed to invest $78.9 million to support the development of the New England REZ.
Developing the New England REZ will be complex, and will take a number of years to design and build. The NSW Government will closely engage with stakeholders on the delivery of the REZ.
To ensure that the REZ delivers meaningful, long-term benefits to local communities, EnergyCo has established the New England REZ Regional Reference Group. The Group brings together regional stakeholders that represent local councils, Aboriginal Land Councils and regional state government agencies.
The New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) was formally declared on 17 December 2021.
The declaration is the first step in formalising the REZ under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020. It sets out the intended network capacity (size), geographical area (location) and infrastructure that will make up the REZ.
The draft declaration was exhibited for 28 days from 15 October to 12 November 2021. EnergyCo reviewed and assessed all feedback received. Minor adjustments to the REZ boundary were made in response to the balanced consideration of proponent and community feedback. These amendments also improve the delineation between areas captured within the REZ that are subject to potential future development and adjacent areas of National Park and World Heritage significance.
To find out more about the declaration, including what it means for regional communities, landholders, project proponents and industry, visit New England REZ Declaration.
Join our mailing list here.
In June 2021, the NSW Government received 80 registrations of interest, totalling 34 gigawatts of potential renewable energy projects. The number of responses to the ROI reflects the strong level of interest in the REZ and helps ensure only the best projects which benefit the community and maximise local renewable jobs and investment in the region will be picked.
EnergyCo NSW is in the early stages of planning a REZ in the South-West region of NSW around Hay on the lands of the Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Baraba Baraba, Wemba Wemba, Wadi Wadi, Madi Madi, Nari Nari, Dadi Dadi, Kureinji and Yitha Yitha people. This REZ will deliver up to 2.5 gigawatts of new network capacity.
The South-West REZ was chosen due to an abundance of high-quality wind and solar resources, proximity to project EnergyConnect, relative land-use compatibility and a strong pipeline of proposed projects.
The region is traversed by project EnergyConnect, an interconnector being built by Transgrid and ElectraNet between Wagga Wagga in NSW and Robertstown in SA, with a connection to Red Cliffs in Vic. The project will also upgrade the 330 kV transmission line to 500 kV between Wagga Wagga and Dinawan, which links to the eastern edge of the REZ.
Overall, EnergyConnect will support the South-West REZ by unlocking up to 1.2 gigawatts of additional transmission capacity, transporting electricity from the REZ to homes and businesses across the State.
Developing the South-West REZ will take many years. The NSW Government will engage closely with the local community and stakeholders on the design and delivery of this REZ.
To ensure that the REZ delivers meaningful, long-term benefits to local communities, EnergyCo NSW has established the South-West REZ Regional Reference Group. The group brings together regional stakeholders representing local councils, Aboriginal Land Councils and regional state government agencies.
Declaring the South-West REZ
The NSW Government has begun the process for declaring the South-West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).
The declaration is the first step in formalising the REZ under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020. It sets out the intended network capacity (size), geographical area (location) and infrastructure that will make up the REZ.
The draft declaration exhibition period has now closed.
EnergyCo will review and consider any feedback received during the exhibition period before the Minister declares the South-West REZ. The Minister may decide to make the final declaration different to the draft declaration.
To stay across further updates, join our mailing list via REZ [at] planning.nsw.gov.au.
To find out more about the draft declaration, including what it means for regional communities, landholders, project proponents and industry, and to see the revised geographic area, visit South-West REZ Declaration.
South-West Renewable Energy Zone - Registration of Interest
In October 2021, EnergyCo ran a registration of interest (ROI) process to seek information from generation, load, storage and network developers interested in being part of the South-West REZ.
The information provided will ensure these projects are taken into account to inform the timing, capacity, design and location of the South-West REZ.
The ROI closed on 24 November 2021. We received 49 registrations of interest for the South-West REZ, representing 34 gigawatts from potential generation and storage projects. This is more than 13 times the intended capacity of 2.5 gigawatts.
Information received through the ROI will be considered alongside ongoing consultation with local stakeholders through the South-West Regional Reference Group.
EnergyCo would like to thank all those who made a submission to the South-West REZ ROI. To stay up to date with further developments, please join our mailing list here.
EnergyCo is in the early stages of planning a Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in the Hunter and Central Coast regions on the lands of the Awabakal, Bahtabah, Biraban, Darkinjung, Mindaribba, Wanaruah and Worimi people.
The Hunter and Central Coast regions have unique features which make them ideal locations for a REZ. These regions have good renewable energy resources and have the opportunity to utilise existing power stations, rehabilitated mining land, electricity network infrastructure, port and transport infrastructure and a skilled workforce.
The Hunter-Central Coast REZ has two main objectives. The first is to connect multiple renewable energy generators and storage projects (such as batteries and pumped hydro) that can support system reliability as the state’s ageing coal-fired power stations retire. The second is to provide cheap, reliable and clean electricity to homes, businesses and industry in the Hunter and Central Coast regions and beyond.
The Hunter-Central Coast REZ will ensure these regions have a key role in a renewable energy future, powering existing industries and supporting economic growth, including emerging technology in green hydrogen, ammonia and metal production, electric vehicle fleet operators and electrification of industrial processes.
EnergyCo will engage extensively with local community and regional stakeholders on the design, location and delivery of the Hunter-Central Coast REZ.
Planning, designing and building new electricity network infrastructure in the Hunter and Central Coast regions requires a detailed understanding of the regions’ future large energy users and renewable energy projects.
The Registration of Interest (ROI) was the first step in engaging with industry on the design of the Hunter-Central Coast REZ. EnergyCo sought information from energy project developers and businesses with new large electrical loads, as these play an equally important role in planning the electricity network. EnergyCo also sought information from businesses with existing large electrical loads that are seeking to switch to renewable energy.
The ROI was for information gathering and consultation purposes only. Participation was voluntary, is not assessable and will not be used in any future NSW Government contracting processes. All commercially sensitive information provided will be treated confidentially.
In addition to the ROI, ongoing consultation with regional stakeholders will also inform the design of the REZ, with consideration given to existing agricultural and primary-land uses, local priorities, existing economic activity and social values.
EnergyCo is in the early stages of planning a REZ in the Illawarra region on the lands of the Dharawal people.
The Illawarra REZ has unique features which make it an ideal location for a REZ. The REZ has good renewable energy resources and has the opportunity to utilise existing power stations, electricity network infrastructure, port and transport infrastructure and a skilled workforce.
The Illawarra REZ will ensure this region has a key role in a renewable energy future, powering existing industries and supporting economic growth, including emerging technology in green hydrogen, ammonia and metal production, electric vehicle fleet operators and electrification of industrial processes.
The NSW Government is exploring these opportunities in the design of the Illawarra REZ. Like all REZs, designing and building the electricity network infrastructure will be complex and take some years to achieve. The NSW Government will engage extensively with local community and regional stakeholders on the design and delivery of the Illawarra REZ.
The NSW Government welcomes input from communities, industry and other interested stakeholders to help design and implement the NSW REZs.
- Read more about REZs in our fact sheet and frequently asked questions.
- Stay informed about REZs and upcoming opportunities to provide feedback by joining the EnergyCo mailing list.
- For all other enquiries, contact us at REZ [at] planning.nsw.gov.au