We've made the switch! All Council facilities and street lights are powered by 100% renewable energy! In 2022, along with 24 other participating councils, we signed one of the largest renewable energy deals for local government that sees participating councils' retail electricity supplied by three NSW solar farms.
The 'switch' came into effect on the 1st July 2022 which means that all Council facilities in Lane Cove, including Lane Cove Aquatic Centre, are now powered by 100% renewable energy. This, combined with Council's other energy savings and own solar power generation projects, decreases Council's emissions by 73%, a significant advance on our 80% reduction target set for 2036.
Council has budgeted to offset its vehicle fleet emissions and by doing so we will achieve an 80% reduction in our emissions from operations. Even without the emissions offset, Council's emissions from operations have been reduced from 2% to 0.5% of the LGA's total emissions.
This target outperforms the NSW Government's net zero emissions target by 2050 as well as the Net Zero Plan Stage 1: 2020–2030, to achieve 50% emissions reduction in New South Wales by 2030 (compared to 2005 levels).
Council has been maximising the solar potential of our facilities.
- Aquatic Centre – 63kW on the Grandstand and 88kW on the main building
- The Canopy – 79Kw and 4 Tesla Powerwall batteries
- The Depot – 51kW and 2 Tesla Powerwall batteries
- Tantallon – 60kW with two 101kW batteries
- Library - 54Kw
- Civic Centre - 16kW
- Plus small site installations
Total installed capacity is 458kW.
Council provides access to 21 electric vehicle charging stations in Lane Cove:
- Six at The Canopy (P3) including two fast charging stations (P2). The fast charging stations require customers to download the Evie App before use.
- Four in Little Street Car Park (P4)
- Five at Market Square Car Park (P2)
- Six at St Leonards (88 Christie Street). Four are free and two are pay on demand 'fast' chargers.
You can receive free charging and only pay (for parking) for a stay exceeding 3 hours at the Little Street and Market Square carparks and on P3 of The Canopy.
Council partnered with Ausgrid to complete Phase 1 of the street lighting upgrade. 1,162 residential street lights across the Lane Cove area have now been upgraded to new LED lights. Funded by Council’s Sustainability Levy with works conducted by Ausgrid, the new lights require less maintenance and are more cost-effective. While it took up to 95 watts to power the old streetlights, the new LED lights use just 17 watts and are expected to last up to 20 years.
The next phase will see lights on our main roads upgraded to LED lights. The upgrades are expected to start in late 2023.
The State of the Environment Report (SoER) is a comprehensive report on all major environmental impacts and related activities in Lane Cove. The SoER demonstrates how Council is operating in a sustainable way and is actively managing the use of our local environment whilst conserving and protecting it for the enjoyment of future generations. The last comprehensive SoER produced was the combined Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (NSROC) SoER in 2021.
View the 2016 - 20021 State of the Environment Report
Cities Power Partnership
Council is a part of The Cities Power Partnership, which celebrates and accelerates emission reduction and clean energy across Australia.
Cities Race to Zero
Council is a member of Cities Race to Zero, pledging to recognise the global climate emergency and commit to keeping global heating below the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.