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City of Rockingham takes next steps to increase renewable power supply

Hannah CrossSound Telegraph
Collgar wind farm, Merredin. Astrid Volzke / The West Australian. 4th July 2012
Camera IconCollgar wind farm, Merredin. Astrid Volzke / The West Australian. 4th July 2012 Credit: Astrid Volzke/WA News

Taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint, the City of Rockingham has joined the Western Australian Local Government Association’s sustainable energy procurement program.

The City of Rockingham has signed a contract with Synergy that will allow it to use electricity from renewable sources at its largest electricity-consuming sites.

These sites make up about 16 per cent of the City’s electricity consumption by consuming more than 50 megawatt hours of electricity per year and include the City’s administration building, Gary Holland Community Centre, and Millar Road Landfill and Recycling Facility.

Under the new agreement, the City will increase its sustainable energy supply for these sites to 50 per cent in 2023 and 100 per cent in 2024.

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The new agreement adds to the City’s 3,500 solar panels already installed on City assets, with the largest systems alone generating about 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

Rockingham mayor Deb Hamblin said the agreement was the first step in a range of initiatives the City was pursuing, including electric vehicles and sustainable energy supply for street lighting.

“”The City’s involvement in the Sustainable Energy Procurement Program is an exciting step that will harness power supplied by the Albany Wind Farm, as well as the Emu Downs and Collgar wind farms,” Cr Hamblin said.

“Reducing carbon emissions and working towards becoming carbon negative is a goal in the City’s Sustainability Strategy and this program represents a terrific opportunity for the City to reduce its carbon footprint.”

The WALGA agreement has the potential to deliver 100 per cent renewable power to 51 councils across the State should they adopt it, and is the first renewables and carbon offset aggregation project authorised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

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