Australian state to invest $850 mln in power grid
MELBOURNE, June 10 (Reuters) - Australia's New South Wales state on Friday said it would invest A$1.2 billion ($850 million) in new transmission lines over 10 years to speed up connections to the grid for new renewable energy projects as the state looks to shift to greener power.
State Treasurer Matt Kean said with the A$1.2 billion Transmission Acceleration Facility, the state hopes to attract least A$14 billion in private investment in transmission infrastructure.
Australia is grappling with power and gas price spikes due to a string of outages at coal-fired plants, a cold snap which has driven up gas demand and record high global coal and gas prices.
"Fast-tracking the construction of renewable energy is the best way to reduce our exposure to these risks and take advantage of cleaner, cheaper power sources," Kean said in a statement.
More than 50 large-scale renewable energy projects with capacity of 16,000 megawatts have been proposed in Australia's most populous state, but many of them cannot go ahead without additional grid capacity.
"The Facility is a critical step in unlocking the new generation needed to improve competition, lower power prices and secure a brighter future for households and businesses," Kean said.
The spending will be part of the state's 2022-23 budget, due to be delivered on June 21.
Australia's new Labor government also plans to drive construction of new transmission with A$20 billion in low-cost finance.