A solar farm heralded as the largest in any central business district (CBD) in the Southern Hemisphere is being built in the heart of Sydney.
About 4,500 photovoltaic panels will cover the rooftops of the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) and produce enough electricity to power up to 400 homes.
The rooftop generation, combined with purchased renewable electricity, will mean the government-owned site is powered entirely by green energy.
Paul Scully, the minister for planning and public spaces, told the ABC that the upgrade would attract more events to Sydney.
"Coming to one of the most environmentally friendly convention centres in the world is a big selling point," Mr Scully said.
"This is showing how, as an urban community, we can do our part in the rebuild of our energy system, where we're using large roof spaces."
The solar farm will cut carbon emissions by up to 2,000 tonnes a year, which the government has said is equivalent to the amount absorbed by a forest of about 100,000 mature trees.
The ICC Sydney already had some solar panels installed, but the older technology was too heavy to be placed on certain sections of the rooftops.
With lighter panels now available, the centre can increase the size of its solar footprint.
'300 per cent more energy'
Chris Jones is the head of asset management at Capella Capital, which leads the consortium that maintains the facility.
Mr Jones said the newer, more efficient panels would allow the ICC Sydney to produce about 300 per cent more energy.
"This facility running at full capacity is a big drawer of electricity," Mr Jones said.
Battery storage was not an option as it would take up too much space.
"The only logical way to do it is to use the grid as a synthetic battery, if you will," Mr Jones said.
With power bills reaching $1.8 million a year, the centre was also trying to reduce consumption by upgrading appliances such as fridges.
ICC Sydney chief executive officer Adam Mather-Brown said the facility sought to use less power each year.
"We've just finished an entire re-bulbing exercise on the building, because being 10 years old, new technology has come in," Mr Mather-Brown said.
"For thousands of lights that we have, we've reduced that already."
The existing panels were dismantled this week and will be given to the Kindly Animal Sanctuary near Armidale in the Northern Tablelands for reuse.
It is estimated they will last another 10 to 15 years.
"They can reduce their energy bill and keep those rescue animals warm at the same time," Mr Scully said.
More cities likely to follow
In June, NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane pledged to create a renewable energy zone (REZ) in the cities of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.
The state's first urban REZ is being set up in the Illawarra, drawing from solar generated on the roofs of homes and businesses, and using home and community batteries.
Mr Scully would not say whether the government was looking to establish a REZ in Sydney but hinted other areas of urban generation would follow the Illawarra.
"We're looking to use that as the test bed to see what we might be able to take from that and scale up to other urban communities," he said.
