Power generation and supply
People living in regional, rural, and remote areas deserve access to cheaper, more reliable, and cleaner energy.
Our industries, businesses, schools, health system and households rely on a secure and uninterrupted power supply. We depend on low-cost electricity to power refrigeration, lighting, technology, telecommunications, petrol pumps, manufacturing, and essential services such as water supply.
The NSW Nationals support the uptake of cost-effective renewable energy options, including solar and wind-powered microgrids with battery backup that minimise the distance energy needs to be transported. We want to protect regional towns from blackouts due to power line damage and network outages.
The NSW Nationals believe utilising technological advances to address these network issues is key to minimise disruptions, while at the same time reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Transition to cleaner energy
The Nationals in Government are ensuring that intermittent renewable energy sources can deliver reliable 24/7 power, so we are also underwriting investment in new reliable power generation to improve competition and reduce wholesale power prices by more than 25 per cent.
We are proud to have invested in Snowy 2.0, which will be the world’s second-largest renewable hydropower station and increase generation capacity by 2000 megawatts – enough power for 500,000 homes during peak demand.
Importantly, the proceeds from the sale of the Snowy Hydro Scheme have been reserved for investment into regional areas, meaning the NSW Nationals have a $4.2 billion future fund to deliver regional projects.
Nuclear power
The NSW Nationals support investigating the use of nuclear power in Australia, especially small modular reactor technology.
Petroleum Exploration Licences
The NSW Nationals believe Petroleum Exploration Licenses should be extinguished as soon as they expire.
Under the previous Labor Government, CSG licenses were approved as late as 2010 and more than 60 per cent of the state was covered in coal seam gas titles. We are proud that no new licenses have been granted since we were elected in 2011, and we have taken decisive action to protect our farmland and regional communities, bringing that down to just 7 per cent.
We acknowledge maximising the use of locally produced gas can generate cheap electricity for consumers, underpin future industry development and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. We want to give NSW a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting investment, creating jobs, and keeping gas prices affordable for households and businesses.
However, we understand there is concern about coal-seam gas. Water is our most precious resource and we are opposed to any development that would take away water security.
The NSW Nationals only want to see gas exploration in areas where the experts say it is safe to do so, and where the local community supports it.
