His demand comes on the first anniversary of the passage of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020, which NSW Labor successfully amended to include the Illawarra, Hunter, and Central Coast region’s as part of the state’s renewable energy zones.
Mr Scully told Parliament:
It is a year since a steel mandate for renewable energy in New South Wales was promised, yet it is still illusive.
The agreement when it comes to regions with heavy industries and manufacturing is that the Government would look to maximising local content in the delivery of renewable energy infrastructure.
The Illawarra views climate action and mitigation as an opportunity for its heavy industries.
We are ready, willing and wanting to do our bit, to be a central part of the solution, but we need a government that will back us in.
Despite its headline-chasing rhetoric, the Government is so far not delivering on its commitment to provide a real opportunity for regions like the Illawarra to participate in the renewable energy economy.
Over the months ahead the NSW Government should dedicate itself to implementing the steel mandate for renewable energy infrastructure projects – generation, transmission and storage – it promised.
Mr Scully also told Parliament the Government needed to crack on with its 260 day-old commitment to provide $70 million to the Illawarra and the Hunter for hydrogen projects.
He also praised the Illawarra health service’s frontline professionals for helping keep the COVID pandemic manageable and the region’s essential workers who worked “every day to keep the lights on and to keep the essential supplies and services moving.”
