New South Wales invites interest in Illawarra renewable energy zone

The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) on Thursday announced the opening of a registration of interest (ROI) process for the Illawarra renewable energy zone (REZ).

Energy project developers and businesses with large electrical loads have six weeks till July 22 to register their interest to participate in the Illawarra REZ with the Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo), which is coordinating investment in REZs across the state. The information collected will be used to inform the design of the Illawarra REZ, which has the potential to use existing dams for pumped hydro and deploy significant offshore wind. There will also be demand for hydrogen projects, which will have a central role in the REZ as the government is seeking to develop hydrogen hubs in the Illawarra and Hunter regions.

The NSW government aims to establish five REZs in line with its Electricity Strategy and Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap -- in the Central-West Orana, New England, South-West, Hunter-Central Coast and Illawarra regions. ROI processes have already been run for four of these zones. Most recently, the Hunter-Central Coast REZ attracted proposals for nearly 40 GW of projects, including seven offshore wind schemes.

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