Renewable energy zones are the NSW Government’s mechanism for building grid capacity where new generation wants to connect, and the Hunter-Central Coast zone is the one that runs through this masthead’s patch. EnergyCo, the state corporation that plans the zones, has commissioned Ausgrid, the distribution network operator, to deliver the Hunter’s network upgrade. The completion release is specific about what Stage 1 physically is: new fibre-optic communications linking the Muswellbrook Switching Station, the Muswellbrook Bulk Supply Point and the Mitchell Line Switching Station, building on existing infrastructure “with minimal new construction” to make the Upper Hunter network smarter and more efficient.
Communications infrastructure earning 350 MW of grid capacity deserves one plain sentence of explanation. A network operator can only run lines as hard as it can see and control them; better monitoring and switching lets the same copper and steel carry more power safely. That is the entire bet of this REZ: EnergyCo calls it the first renewable energy zone in Australia to upgrade existing distribution poles and wires rather than start from scratch, per its project hub page.
What the whole project adds up to
The release restates the full scope, and since jobs numbers on this beat are usually quoted second-hand, it is worth recording that these are EnergyCo’s own published figures: the network project is expected to create 590 jobs during construction and 220 ongoing operational roles, and to let an additional 1.8 gigawatts of renewable generation and storage connect. The works ahead of 2028 include upgrading roughly 85 kilometres of sub-transmission lines, installing 18 kilometres of new underground fibre, upgrading existing substations, and building two new energy hubs in the Muswellbrook local government area, at Sandy Creek and Antiene.
EnergyCo’s chief executive Hannah McCaughey: “EnergyCo welcomes the completion of this important milestone and reinforces that construction is underway to ensure the Hunter will continue to play a critical role in powering NSW. With these works complete, it will provide greater certainty to renewable energy generators to connect to the Hunter-Central Coast REZ by 2028.” Ausgrid’s chief executive Marc England called it “another step towards delivering more affordable, reliable power for customers across the Hunter.”
The project’s standing in the national planning machinery also firmed this year. In its 2026 Integrated System Plan, AEMO upgraded the Hunter-Central Coast REZ network infrastructure project from “actionable” to “committed”, with target full capacity in July 2028: planner’s language for a project that has crossed from proposal to build.
One gigawatt of capacity, forty gigawatts of interest
The number that puts Stage 1 in proportion is on EnergyCo’s own hub page. When registrations of interest for the zone were taken in 2021-22, commercial proposals for renewable generation and storage came to almost 40 gigawatts and more than $100 billion of potential investment, across 24 solar, 20 wind, 35 battery and 8 pumped-hydro proposals. The network being built to serve that interest totals 1 gigawatt by 2028, of which Stage 1’s 350 MW is now real.
Those two numbers are not a contradiction; registered interest is aspiration, not committed projects, and no grid anywhere is built to the size of its enquiry list. But the ratio is the fact to hold onto, because it means the binding constraint on the Hunter’s renewable buildout for the rest of this decade is network capacity, not developer appetite. Which projects win access to the 1 gigawatt that will exist, and which of the remaining 39 wait for network that is not yet planned, is the story this masthead will keep following as each stage completes.