CITY OF SYDNEY DECENTRALISED ENERGY MASTER PLAN RENEWABLE ENERGY 2012–2030 DECEMBER 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The City wishes to acknowledge and thank y Arup for undertaking the renewable energy resource technical analysis required for the master plan. y Talent with Energy for undertaking the Renewable Gases Supply Infrastructure and associated technologies, resources, economics and greenhouse gas emissions analysis required for the master plan. y The Allen Consulting Group for undertaking the financial and economic analysis of renewable energy opportunities required for the master plan. The renewable gases resource capacity requirement for the trigeneration demand was based on the City of Sydney Decentralised Energy Master Plan – Trigeneration undertaken by Kinesis. Front cover designed by Kinesis. This Master Plan has been prepared by the City of Sydney Copyright 2013 December 2013 FOREWORD 2 UNLOCKING THE MASTER PLAN 4 CONTENTS 1. RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 12 2. RE-THINKING RENEWABLE ENERGY 19 3. RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR THE CITY OF SYDNEY 34 4. PERFORMANCE MEASURES 57 5. ENABLING THE MASTER PLAN 74 6. CASE STUDIES 83 TECHNICAL APPENDICES 140 FOREWORD In 2008 the City of Sydney launched Sustainable Sydney 2030 and committed Sydney to becoming a green, global and connected city. There are sufficient In Sustainable Sydney 2030, the City of This Renewable Energy Master Plan is Sydney set a target to reduce greenhouse based on renewable energy technologies renewable energy gas emissions across the entire local that are currently available and resources within 250km of government area (LGA) by 70% below commercially viable now or could become the city to meet the City 2006 levels by 2030. viable by 2030. of Sydney 30% renewable Since 80% of the City of Sydney’s LGA Currently, the prevailing renewable electricity target. Also, emissions come from centralised power energy technologies in Australia more than enough generation, primarily coal, Sustainable are onshore wind and solar. Both Sydney 2030 also set a target for the these resources provide important renewable gas feedstocks City of Sydney LGA to have capacity to contributions towards renewable energy, can be found within meet up to 100% of electricity demand but largely only operate intermittently 250km of the city to by local generation by 2030. Of this local due to variations in climatic conditions electricity demand, renewable electricity and time of day. provide 100% of the gas generation was expected to supply 30% needed to supply the city’s and trigeneration 70% of the City’s LGA Therefore, we need to include less trigeneration network. by 2030. intermittent or non intermittent renewable energy sources such as Renewable electricity Renewable energy is not new to Sydney. marine, geothermal, solar thermal and renewable gases In 1796, Sydney became the first city in and renewable gas resources in the for the City’s planned Australia to use renewable energy in the renewable energy mix, if we are to form of wind power to grind wheat for avoid fossil fuel fired spinning reserve trigeneration network flour and windmills dotted the Sydney backing up intermittent renewable could supply 100% of landscape, all the way from the Rocks to energy technologies. More recently, buildings energy needs Parramatta up river. Windmills reigned ‘power to gas’ technologies have also in early colonial Sydney for more than been deployed in Europe to capture in the City of Sydney 20 years until the introduction of coal- surplus renewable electricity that would by 2030. fired steam power. otherwise have to be switched off when 2 CITY OF SYDNEY | Decentralised Energy Master Plan — Renewable Energy renewable electricity generation exceeds established a proximity zone for sourcing greenhouse gas emissions reduction The implementation of renewable energy demand, particularly with a greater renewable electricity within a nominal target of 70% below 2006 levels can not technologies cannot be delivered by penetration of solar and wind. Using a 250 kilometres of the city to avoid only be achieved by 2030 but potentially the City alone, nor can the outcomes combination of these renewable energy significant grid infrastructure connection deliver 100% of the city’s electricity, be realised in a short time frame. resources and conversion technologies costs and ongoing network charges that heating and cooling requirements from We recognise that the City of Sydney would enable us to develop a renewable have recently driven up electricity bills. renewable energy by 2030. will need to cooperatively work with energy system that would genuinely This becomes more cost effective where the private sector and other levels of replace fossil fuel base and peak load renewable electricity generation can Developing the renewable gas market government to deliver the full potential power generation. displace coal fired electricity generation in addition to other forms of renewable of this Master Plan. The City of Sydney in the distribution network rather than energy is key to this Master Plan. In is already working with the private Electricity should be generated close the transmission network. conjunction with energy efficiency sector on the development of renewable to where it is consumed for maximum improvements through planning controls, gases for precinct scale trigeneration efficiency. Local or decentralised Renewable gases from residual waste building design and behavioural change, in addition to currently installing the renewable electricity generation avoids and biomass are also an important we are headed toward exceeding our largest precinct scale building integrated the high costs of transporting electricity component of our targets. Most target of reducing 2006 emissions by solar PV program in Australia for its from the country to the city. These renewable gases are located beyond 70% by 2030. own buildings and operations which may transport costs currently make up more the City of Sydney LGA where supply well set the pathway for community and than half of the average electricity bill is abundant. Although beyond the scope of this private sector renewable energy schemes and due to rise to 60% of electricity Master plan, the renewable energy in the future. bills by 2013/14. Furthermore, electricity When treated and converted into a future for NSW and Australia also looks generated from biomass or renewable substitute natural gas, they can be exciting. For the first time, ‘power to feedstocks at remote sites will lose up to injected into the natural gas pipeline for gas’ technologies can tap into the 80% of the renewable energy generated use on the City’s planned trigeneration vast renewable energy resources in Allan Jones MBE as waste heat into the atmosphere as city-wide network. This will enable Australia, not only to make Australia Chief Development Officer, Energy well as losses in the electricity grid if thermal energy as well as electrical renewable energy independent but also and Climate Change the potential to export renewable energy utilised as renewable electricity rather energy to be recovered from renewable Clover Moore in the form of liquefied renewable gas to than as renewable gas. gas resources. This Master Plan details Lord Mayor other parts of the world that could rival how 100% of the gas required to fuel a City of Sydney However, not all of the 30% renewable future trigeneration network 24 hours or exceed Australia’s current fossil fuel electricity target can be delivered a day could be sourced from renewable exports which it could replace, thereby inside the City’s LGA. At least 12% sources located within 100–150km of reducing global emissions rather than of the renewable electricity required the city. increasing them. to meet demand in the City’s LGA will need to be generated beyond the LGA in Combining proposed efforts of the City’s order to meet our renewable electricity Renewable Energy and Trigeneration generation target. That is why we have Master Plans and energy efficiency, the renewable electricity target of 30% and CITY OF SYDNEY | Decentralised Energy Master Plan — Renewable Energy 3 UNLOCKING THE MASTER PLAN The combination of this Master Plan, other Master Plans and the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target could take the city off the coal-fired electricity grid by 2030. Unlike thermal or gas energy, electrical In developing this Renewable Energy 1 By 2030, renewable electricity generation RENEWABLE ENERGY RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY POTENTIAL energy once generated has to be Master Plan detailed research was can provide 30% of electricity used in the immediately consumed. Electricity undertaken into world renewable energy Almost 90% of electricity currently used storage devices can be deployed but best practice, the mix of renewable There are no new resources or in the City of Sydney’s Local Government City of Sydney. these are limited and in the main the energy resources and technologies technologies to be discovered or invented Area (LGA) comes from coal fired power electricity grid is balanced by wasteful deployed and in particular, how to tackle climate change or to meet the stations. These are responsible for 80% thermal power generation. The electricity other countries were overcoming the 2 Up to 18% of the City’s electricity demand can energy demands of a city or a nation of greenhouse gas emissions from the grid is a problem for intermittent intermittency of renewable energy from 100% non-intermittent renewable City of Sydney LGA. Renewable energy be met from renewable electricity