A new large-scale solar plant will be constructed in regional Victoria to power Melbourne’s tram network.
The Victorian Government will run a tender to help build 75MW of new large scale solar farms, delivering $150 million in new capital investment and 300 new jobs.
Around 35MW of the new solar farms will be linked to Melbourne’s tram network. The state government will voluntarily surrender renewable energy certificates matching the amount of electricity used by all of Melbourne’s trams.
Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, said, “We will use our purchasing power as a large energy consumer to boost investment in renewables and create new jobs for Victorians.
“We’re positioning Victoria as a leader in climate change, by reducing emissions and adapting to the impacts.”
This will result in a reduction of more than 80,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.
Victorian Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, said, “We’ve got the biggest tram network in the world and we’re powering it with renewables and creating local jobs.”
An open tender will be run in the first half of 2017 to build Victoria’s first large scale solar farms by the end of 2018.
The initiative keeps Victoria on track to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
