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. New fossil fuel generation lagged behind clean options, with gas creating the lowest number of construction jobs at 1,566. Solar farms would create 6,006 construction jobs, wind 5,558 jobs, while new coal would create 3,573 and gas just 652.

Source: The Guardian April 25, 2022 22:26 UTC