The Beagle published this article on 8 April 2021.
Eurobodalla Council has signed a landmark 10-year agreement to source the bulk of its energy from renewables from July.
Electricity generated by solar farms at Parkes and Griffith, and from wind farms in the New England area due to come online in 2024, will supply 80 per cent of Council’s total electricity load for larger energy use sites, like the Moruya admin building, pools, libraries, water and sewer pump stations, treatment plants and streetlights.
The move will reduce Council’s carbon emissions the equivalent to removing 1,000 cars from the road per annum and puts Council well on its way to achieve its target of sourcing 100 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2030.
Council’s environment services manager Deb Lenson said Council’s electricity bill was about $1.5 million each year.
She said the power purchase agreement was secured at a competitive price with renewable energy company Simply Energy, ENGIE, with help from Renewable Energy Hub.
“We’re really excited to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels, reduce our CO2 emissions and having a clean source of energy,” she said.
“We’re now well on course to achieving our target of sourcing 100 per cent of Council’s energy from renewables by 2030 and reducing our CO2 emissions.
“We’ll continue to look for other opportunities to supply renewable energy for the remaining 20 per cent of Council facilities, which are our smaller sites that use less power, like community halls and public toilets.”
Meanwhile, the Council has been reviewing its Emissions Reduction Plan. A new plan will include more actions for Council to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and make the organisation more climate resilient.
It will also look to include actions that help the wider community become more climate resilient and help reduce Eurobodalla’s environmental footprint.
More information about Council’s environmental initiatives is at www.esc.nsw.gov.au/environment