Aussie govt awards permit to 4.5-GW transmission line project in NSW

The federal government of Australia has put the green tick on a huge transmission infrastructure project in New South Wales to enable the deployment of at least 4.5 GW of renewables capacity in the state.

The approval was issued on Thursday by federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek, about a month after the project was granted planning approval by the New South Wales government. In both cases, the permits contain conditions related to the protection of nature.

The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) transmission project envisages installing around 240 km (149.1 mi) of new transmission lines within the Central-West Orana REZ to help connect large-scale renewable and energy storage facilities to the national power grid. This will drive up to AUD 20 billion (USD 13.12bn/EUR 12bn) in private investment in solar, wind and energy storage projects and help power roughly 1.8 million New South Wales homes.

The project will be executed with some AUD 490 million in federal funding under the government’s Rewiring the Nation Fund. Financial close is planned to be reached in the second half of this year, with building works set to begin in late 2024. Initial operation of the new lines is due to commence in 2028.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.656/EUR 0.600)

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