The Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO) is the largest emissions reduction project ever undertaken by the local government sector in Australia.

51 Victorian Councils have pooled their electricity needs into one long-term contract with Red Energy which will provide the VECO group with renewable energy generated from wind farms here in Victoria.

The long-term contract will power streetlights, libraries, recreational spaces, infrastructure and public buildings with 100% renewable energy. Not only will councils be saving money to spend elsewhere, but the energy used will be produced by wind farms right here in Victoria. By using renewable energy we’ll be saving 260,000 tonnes of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere – the same as taking 90,000 cars off the road.

The renewable energy will be provided by two wind farms in Victoria – Dundonnell wind farm near Mortlake, which started exporting power to the grid in March 2020, and Murra Warra II wind farm near Horsham, which became fully operational in June 2022.

The ground-breaking project will reduce each of the council’s current energy bills and reduce electricity prices by using clean renewable energy generated right here in Victoria.

The VECO project doesn’t just the benefit the environment – by joining together, each council will be paying less for their power than if we'd sourced our electricity individually. VECO is expected to save councils up to 35 per cent on their electricity bills, based on current costs. This will vary across councils based on energy needs.

That means every dollar saved is another dollar that will be put back into providing vital community services and programs that benefit all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMAQa3lDvNs&feature=emb_logo

For more information, visit the VECO website at www.veco.org.au