The State Government of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia has officially declared its 3rd renewable energy zone (REZ) in south west of the state in the form of South West REZ for which it has received registration of interest (ROI) for 34 GW renewable energy capacity in February 2022 (see Over 34 GW For NSW's South-West REZ).
The declaration process now opens the way to actually realize the REZ with infrastructure needed and launch the competitive solicitation process. This includes setting out the network capacity.
The South West REZ will be located around Hay and Balranald region that have an abundance of high quality wind and solar resources that promise to produce cheap, clean and reliable electricity. It will also enjoy proximity to Project EnergyConnect currently under construction.
Infrastructure planner for the South West REZ, Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) will coordinate transmission, generation and storage projects here.
"It is anticipated that Project EnergyConnect and HumeLink will unlock around 2.5 gigawatts of transmission capacity in total to support the South West REZ, following the upgrade of the eastern section of Project EnergyConnect from 330 kV to 500 kV operation," said EnergyCo's Executive Director Mike Young.
Previously, the government has officially declared a 3 GW Central-West Orana REZ for which it received ROIs for 27 GW, and its 8 GW New England REZ with ROIs of 34 GW (see New England REZ Formally 'Declared').