Central-West Orana Transmission Project

Have your say on community benefit initiatives

EnergyCo has been investigating since mid-2022 how impacts and benefits to communities will be coordinated in the Central-West Orana REZ. This includes carrying out detailed studies into a number of areas we’ve heard are priorities for the community such as road upgrades, training and skills development, workforce accommodation, telecommunication improvements and waste management. To learn more about this work, click here to read our report.

EnergyCo is seeking community feedback until Friday 31 March 2023 to inform how we will deliver community benefits in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). To have your say, click here to complete our online survey.

About the transmission project

The Central-West Orana REZ will be serviced by new transmission network infrastructure, including high-capacity transmission lines and energy hubs, which will transfer power generated by solar and wind farms to electricity consumers. This infrastructure will be critical for the successful operation of the REZ. EnergyCo is leading the development of the REZ transmission network infrastructure in its capacity as the Infrastructure Planner for the REZs in NSW.

EnergyCo is responsible for developing and overseeing the planning and approval processes for the REZ network infrastructure. We are also running a competitive tender process to appoint a Network Operator to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the REZ transmission network.

EnergyCo will continue to carry out a variety of field investigations in 2023 to help us better understand local land uses and allow us to confirm environmental conditions, local topography and engineering constraints as part of investigations to inform the design and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the REZ transmission infrastructure. The EIS will be lodged with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment and placed on public exhibition for community feedback in late 2023.

To support the delivery of the transmission network infrastructure and the REZ as a whole, we are working closely with the developers of renewable energy projects to plan their connections into the network. We are also working with generators and other key stakeholders to develop strategies to manage cumulative impacts within the REZ and deliver community benefit initiatives.