Victorian trams go solar

A new solar plant will be built in regional Victoria, to be responsible for powering Melbourne’s tram network.

New large-scale solar farms will be built, with the Victorian Government running a tender to assist the process.

It is expected that the project will deliver $150 million in new capital investment to the state, as well as creating 300 new jobs.

“We’ve got the biggest tram network in the world and we’re powering it with renewables and creating local jobs,” said Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan.

Around 35 MW of the new solar farms will be linked to Melbourne’s tram network. The 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.

For more information and updates on the Renewable Certificate Purchasing Initiative and associated tenders, visit http://delwp.vic.gov.au/renewableenergypurchasing.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Ingo Bartussek

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