As one of New South Wales’ key regional communities positioned within the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (CWO REZ), Mid-Western Regional Council is taking a proactive leadership role in shaping how it wants to see large-scale solar development translate into long-term local value.
CPVA is a national industry body focused on enabling the solar energy sector’s transition into a circular economy. Council’s membership with CPVA reflects a growing interstate network of regional local governments supporting the organisation’s calls to ensure solar infrastructure delivers local jobs, industry development and sustainable waste outcomes, in addition to renewable energy.
Mid-Western Regional Council General Manager, Brad Cam, said joining CPVA strengthens the region’s position at the forefront of a new economic opportunity.
“We are seeing significant investment in renewable energy across our region. By joining Circular PV Alliance, we are making it clear that Mid-Western Regional Council wants to capture the full value of that investment for our community,” Cam said. “This includes supporting new industries that recover valuable materials from end-of-life solar panels, creating local jobs and ensuring these materials don’t end up in landfill.”
Megan Jones, CEO of CPVA, said regional councils are central to building a sustainable and socially accepted renewable energy industry.
“Regional communities like Mid-Western are hosting the infrastructure that underpins Australia’s clean energy future. It’s critical they are equipped to manage both the opportunities and the impacts,” Jones said. “Through our CPVA Certified® framework, we work with developers to embed circularity into solar projects from the outset. By ensuring panels are reused, repaired, or recycled, they avoid becoming a burden on local waste management infrastructure and systems.”
“The solar circular economy represents a significant emerging industry. Communities located with REZs, like Mid-Western, are ideally placed to look at new ways of unlocking local economic development opportunities created through resource recovery practices.”
Mid-Western joins a growing cohort of forward-thinking regional councils across Australia. This includes neighbouring Dubbo Regional Council (also located within the CWO REZ) and Banana Shire Council in Queensland, that are actively positioning their communities to benefit from the next phase of the energy transition and pledging support to CPVA.
Council’s membership sends a clear signal to industry: regional Australia is not just hosting renewable energy, it is proactively shaping what comes next with a long-term view of value creation for local communities.
CPVA invites other local governments to join the movement and help build a circular, resilient and economically beneficial solar energy future that opens new opportunities for regional communities playing critical roles in the energy transition.
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