City Of Bayswater (Council) Shooting For 100% Renewables By 2030

Western Australia’s City Of Bayswater has voted to support a draft Renewable Energy and Emission Reduction Position and Action Statement (PAAS).

The purpose of the PAAS was to propose a staged approach to achieve:

• a corporate renewable energy target of 100% by 2030.
• a corporate greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 100% by 2040.

The envisioned stages:

• Stage 1 will involve development of the City’s emission profile and adoption of interim emission reduction and renewable energy targets.
• Stage 2 will see the preparation of an Emissions Reduction and Renewable Energy (ERRE) plan, along with an initial business case for options.
• Stage 3 involves implementation, monitoring and reporting on actions undertaken by the City.

Aside from emissions reduction, there’s generally a strong financial case for making a switch to renewables. Currently, Council spends about $4 million a year on energy; a figure that also includes non-electricity related energy costs.

A Role For Solar Power

Commercial solar installations could play a significant role in achieving the 100% renewable energy target. The agenda for the council meeting states:

“It should be noted that the use of solar panels is already supported with a business case of a return on investment between 3 to 5 years and an expected lifecycle of 20-25 years.”

The agenda also notes 60kW of solar panel capacity is already funded for 2019/20.

According to the Eastern Reporter, the vote on the draft PAAS was carried 9-2, with one councillor opposing the motion based on concerns the public hadn’t been consulted, and another stating the Federal Government should leading the change.

The City of Bayswater is also considering becoming a member of the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership. The initiative, which costs councils nothing to join, is a national program bringing together Australian towns and cities making the switch to clean energy. Member councils of the partnership pledge to take five key actions across renewable energy, efficiency, transport and collaboration. More than 100 councils across Australia have signed on to the Partnership.

The City of Bayswater LGA is situated approximately 7 kilometres northeast of Perth’s CBD. Covering 34.6 square kilometres, the City had a population of 65,050 as at Census 2016. Among its suburbs are Bayswater, Bedford, Maylands and Morley.

City of Bayswater ratepayers are already well and truly on the solar power bandwagon. According to APVI, approximately 21% of dwellings in the LGA had solar panels installed at June 2019.