Wollongong MP Paul Scully, Wests Illawarra Chief Financial Officer Renata Garnero, Wests Strategic Leader for Facilities, Projects, and Port Kembla Golf Club Matt Demos, and Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes at Wests Illawarra’s solar panel carpark launch. Photo: Jen White.
There might be a pause in the development of offshore wind infrastructure off the Illawarra coast, but another large-scale renewable energy initiative is powering forward.
The Illawarra was declared one of NSW’s five official renewable energy zones (REZ) in 2021.
Unlike other zones, there aren’t vast tracts of land to set up solar farms, or farmers keen to make an extra buck by installing a few wind turbines.
With its steep, narrow escarpment and dense urbanisation Wollongong might not seem like the ideal candidate for generating a significant chunk of the state’s power needs, but MP Paul Scully argues it’s the ideal place to inspire creative solutions.
At a webinar Mr Scully told the audience the Illawarra REZ was an opportunity to generate jobs, not just power.
“We consume a whole heap of energy here, and we want to see how we can work within an urban environment to be part of the energy generation solution,” he said.
“We have a willing community, a skilled workforce and an excellent research institution.
“We have an opportunity to do something differently and live up to the name ‘The City of Innovation’.”
Mr Scully told the webinar, hosted by Good For The Gong, that one of the ideas in the pipeline was using the roofs of large sports facilities, such as the Unanderra Hockey Stadium or Collies Football ground, to generate solar power.
With upgrades to the storage and distribution network that power could be used to provide free energy for community clubs and the excess could be distributed throughout the Illawarra.
He said identifying ways to bring renewable energy to homes that cannot set up their own solar, like rentals and social housing, was critical.
“Wollongong has the highest proportion of renters in the state outside of Sydney, and they have a stake,” he said.
“We have a high proportion of social housing in some suburbs and they are also being left out.
“We need a distributed generation network with community batteries to take solar beyond those who are asset owners.
“This approach allows us to address that gap, and we have organisations already doing it, like Woolworths in Fairy Meadow and the Western Suburbs Leagues Club.”
Western Suburbs Leagues Club generates about 30 per cent of its own power from rooftop solar in their carpark, and is also able to power EV chargers.
Mr Scully said the biggest challenge for most community groups was finding the cash to make the initial installation.
He said the government was looking at how it might be able to provide support.
The biggest challenge for the government? Getting the whole community on the same page.
“There’s an erosion of social license when it comes to larger projects and a coalition of people who are actively trying to harness the angst of communities against renewable energy and against the net zero target,” he said.
“The leader of the free world is suggesting pregnant women don’t take paracetamol because it might cause autism – what bloody bunkum.
“We’re in this weird post truth, post science world and it is a challenge to bring the community with us.
“At the same time there isn’t a single coal-fired generator proposal in the planning system, so their approach means we would have no way to generate power.
“It’s easy to get into doom and gloom scenarios, but I think we have to be optimistic.
“Cunningham, Throsby and Gilmore are all in the top 10 electorates in the country for battery take-up, so people are getting on board at a personal level.”
Mr Scully said he hoped planning changes to renewable energy projects would help sweeten the deal.
Developers must now contribute a set minimum amount per megawatt of generation capacity to a community benefit fund.
The fund is split between the local council for infrastructure and more unique community priorities.
He said it was also worth looking at benefits beyond the environment.
“There’s end-of-life recycling and repurposing of components, which could be a new industry for the Illawarra,” he said.
“If people are motivated by reducing their household energy cost, that’s great.
“There’s a practical and positive way of doing things, and from little things big things happen.”
