Vacy Public School has been chosen to take part in a pilot project to explore the potential for schools to use solar PV panels and batteries to generate electricity for themselves, and create enough to supply electricity to the state's energy grid.
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Member for Upper Hunter Dave Layzell said he was delighted a local school is one of 25 across the state involved in the project.
"This is a great initiative for our local public schools in NSW and I very much I look forward to hearing from the school principal and students about how the pilot progresses," he said.
The pilot project aims to assess the benefits and costs of the large-scale implementation of solar PV systems and batteries and other initiatives that can reduce demand on the energy network. Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said the potential of the Schools Renewable Energy Infrastructure Pilot Project is limitless.
"In NSW, we have 2,200 public schools, and combined they have a roof space of 8 million square meters," Ms Mitchell said.
"That is almost 2,000 football fields worth of space ready for power production.
"By producing solar energy, schools will benefit from lower energy bills, and batteries will store any excess solar energy for later use or it can be sold to the energy grid."
The 25 schools are expected to save $300,000 in electricity costs.
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