Replacing NSW coal plant with renewables would create thousands more jobs than gas, report says

theguardian.com:

Replacing Australia’s largest coal-fired power station with renewable energy would create tens of thousands more construction jobs than replacing it with gas, a new analysis has found.

The Eraring coal-fired power station in the Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales is scheduled to close in 2025.

A new report by the Australian Conservation Foundation estimates if the electricity output of the station was replaced entirely with rooftop solar it would create 63,562 construction jobs.

The same amount replaced by solar farms would create 14,415 jobs and windfarms 13,339 jobs.

New fossil fuel generation lagged behind clean options, with gas creating the lowest number of construction jobs at 1,566. New coal-fired power plants would create an estimated 8,576 jobs.

The tool for calculating the number of construction jobs was built by energy market analyst Tristan Edis, who developed it by using historical jobs data for recent energy projects.

“Renewable energy is the winning option for communities that have for decades relied on coal-fired power stations which are now on their last legs,” the ACF’s chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

She said residents of the Hunter Valley in NSW, the Latrobe Valley in Victoria and Gladstone in Queensland had for many years depended on jobs linked to coalmines and power stations.

“Replacing old coal fired generators with renewables will bring a jobs boom to those regions,” she said.

The analysis also looks at household comparisons and finds 26,484 construction jobs could be created if Australia chose to install rooftop solar on one million new homes.

Solar farms would create 6,006 construction jobs, wind 5,558 jobs, while new coal would create 3,573 and gas just 652.

Tim Buckley, the director of