PLANS to make the New England a renewable energy hub have blown out in cost and will be delayed by at least two years.
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NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe conceded the New England REZ, or renewable energy zone, that was announced by the previous Coalition government - would not come online before 2029, two years behind its initial 2027 start date.
The plans to transform the NSW energy system and replace coal fired power is proving to be more costly and will take longer than initially thought.
Ms Sharpe briefed journalists about Labor's network infrastructure strategy, saying she was concerned that costs and time frames had grown since the project was proposed in 2020.
"I want to be very up-front about this, there's some real challenges within this plan," she told reporters on Thursday.
"The previous government was asked about costs and time frames and never provided an answer."
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The New England zone covers almost 15,500 square kilometres with a network capacity of 2.4 gigawatts.
It comes at a cost of $4.2 billion and will now start in 2029 - two years behind the initial 2027 goal.
The network infrastructure strategy, released on Thursday, is the first time any detailed costings have been made and estimated the total cost to come in just under $10 billion.
"It's not a small amount of money," Ms Sharpe said.
"(In 2020) we had some back of the envelope suggestions about how long these projects will take and how much they would cost.
"So the increase has been substantial and I am concerned about that."
The renewable energy roadmap, drawn up by the previous Coalition government, had been made more difficult by the "addiction to privatisation" in the energy sector and original time frames didn't include the need to consult local communities, Ms Sharpe said.
The two renewable energy zones that account for the bulk of the new generation capacity will be delayed by up to two years.
Like New England, the central west Orana zone, covering almost 21,000 square kilometres with a network capacity of 4.5 gigawatts for new wind and solar projects at a cost of $3.2 billion, will not hit its "energisation date" until 2027-28, compared with an initial 2025 target.
Four out of five coal power stations in NSW are scheduled to retire over the next 10 years, with Eraring now to retire seven years early in 2025.
Ms Sharpe said there was no time to waste in building sufficient new generation capacity and storage but stressed there would be no risk of power outages.
"We are not going to allow the lights to go off," she said adding that coal-fired power stations could continue to operate if needed.
The government plans to reform the state's energy systems with a clean energy target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030 and as close as possible to 100 per cent by 2050.
The five zones are key to transition NSW from fossil fuels to renewable energy, minimising the amount of new poles, wires and transmission lines needed from renewable infrastructure.
The Coalition committed to a $1.2 billion investment under the Transmission Acceleration Facility to expedite critical energy infrastructure, create renewable energy zones, drive private investment in renewables, upgrade the transmission network and boost energy storage.
The 10-year investment would cover the initial planning and development stages until construction began by private operators who would then pass on costs to consumers.
Australian Associated Press
