Melbourne’s tram network will be powered by a new large scale solar plant to be built in regional Victoria.
The Government will run a tender to help build 75MW of new large scale solar farms, delivering $150 million in new capital investment and 300 new jobs.
“We’ve got the biggest tram network in the world and we’re powering it with renewables and creating local jobs,” Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan said.
Around 35MW of the new solar farms will be linked to Melbourne’s tram network. The Labor Government will voluntarily surrender renewable energy certificates matching the amount of electricity used by all of Melbourne’s trams.
This will result in a reduction of more than 80,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.
An open tender will be run in the first half of 2017 to build Victoria’s first large scale solar farms by the end of 2018.
This initiative keeps Victoria on track to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
