Macquarie Uni to go 100% renewable with Snowy Hydro

The Macquarie University in Sydney will power its campus entirely with renewables under a deal with domestic power producer and retailer Snowy Hydro Ltd.

As part of the seven-year contract with Snowy Hydro’s subsidiary Red Energy, the university will purchase 54,422 MWh of electricity per year for its North Ryde campus in Sydney’s North West, allowing it to lower its total greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 92%. The deal will come into effect on July 1, 2020, the university said last week.

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“On-demand hydro from the mighty Snowy Scheme will underpin our contracted wind and solar generation, meaning Red Energy will be proudly supplying Macquarie University with reliable renewable energy,” said Snowy Hydro’s managing director Paul Broad.

Through the agreement, the university will surpass its earlier goal of cutting its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40% by 2030. Its signing follows a recent raising of AUD 250 million (USD 157.4m/EUR 145.3m) through a sustainability bond for the construction of a new green-rated facility within the campus area.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.630/EUR 0.581)