The New South Wales (NSW) government has officially declared the nation’s second renewable energy hub as the Australian state plans to gradually phase out its fleet of coal-fired power stations. The hub will be located in New England in the state’s north-east, with the NSW government banking on $10.7 billion from the private sector to fund the project, of which $78.9 million will come from state government coffers. The billion-dollar figure is more than twice the private sector investment of $5.2 billion required for the nation’s previously announced renewable energy zones (REZs) in the Central-West Orana region, west of Sydney. It comes as part of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, which outlines plans for five REZs to supplant the state’s heavy dependence on coal—a source that currently makes up more than two thirds of the state’s generated electricity. NSW had previously announced its goal to reach net zero emissions by …