AlburyCity is one of 7 NSW Councils that have entered into a 10-year agreement that will see the electricity purchased for its large facilities and street lighting coming from 100% renewable sources.
Since 1 January, AlburyCity large sites like Lavington Sports Ground, Lauren Jackson Sports Centre, Albury LibraryMuseum, Albury Airport, Albury Waste Management Centre, Water Treatment Plants and the region's street lights are being powered by 100% renewable electricity.
Mayor Kylie King said this is a momentous step forward for our community, seeing us reduce our Carbon emissions by over 12,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
"This agreement re-enforces Council's commitment to provide cleaner and more sustainable solutions in fighting the impacts of climate change," said Mayor King.
"It also means we've delivered early on our community's 2025 target in powering Council with 100% renewable electricity, as identified in the Towards Albury 2050 Community Strategic Plan."
AlburyCity joins Bega Valley, Wingecarribee, Camden, Wollongong, Qeanbeyan-Palerang, and Penrith Councils in entering into the agreement thanks to a contract facilitated by Procurement Australia and awarded to Australian-owned Red Energy, who are owned by Snowy Hydro.
The power is being sourced from the Metz Solar Farm, which is located near Armidale in the New England region of NSW, with firming power provided by Snowy Hydro in Tumut.
For AlburyCity's smaller facilities like parks, recreational sites, depots, carparks and pumping stations, AlburyCity have entered into another long-term contract for 100% GreenPower with Shell Energy.
This collaborative NSW Government contract gives Council and the community confidence that the electricity is purchased from genuinely renewable sources.
"AlburyCity CEO Frank Zaknich said securing long-term energy prices at better than current market rates is also future-proofing us in a difficult and often volatile market."
"We look forward to continuing our steps forward in achieving net zero emissions by 2050," Mr Zaknich added.
To find out more about what AlburyCity is doing to manage the impacts of climate change visit alburycity.nsw.gov.au/environment/sustainability/climate-resilience-and-adaption.
