NBN Co has begun harnessing power from a new solar farm at Munna Creek on the Sunshine Coast, which will enable the company to drive down its carbon emissions and meet its commitment to 100 per cent renewable electricity purchases¹.

Gavin Williams, Chief Development Officer, Regional and Remote at NBN Co, was joined by Ian Kirkham, Head of EPC, Oceania Region, METLEN Energy & Metals, to officially open the new solar farm at Munna Creek, near Gympie.

NBN Co has contracted to take approximately 59 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year – or more than 20 per cent of the expected power generated by the 467-hectare solar farm.

The Munna Creek solar farm was constructed and operates under an NBN Co Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by global industrial energy company, METLEN. It is NBN Co’s third PPA, comprising two solar farms and one wind farm, and delivers on the company’s commitment to 100 per cent renewable electricity purchases from December 2025¹.

The Munna Creek solar farm includes approximately 255,000 solar panels. During the construction phase, approximately 150 local jobs were created.

Overall electricity generated by the solar farm is expected to be enough to power the equivalent of 41,100 Australian homes.

In 2023, a new solar farm at West Wyalong in the Riverina area of New South Wales was officially completed and switched on. This was enabled by NBN Co’s first PPA – a 10-year agreement where the company has contracted to take approximately 90 GWh per annum.

And in January 2025, NBN Co began receiving renewable electricity through a six-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed with AGL, where NBN Co is purchasing around 90 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year of renewable energy generated by Macarthur Wind Farm, located between Hamilton and Warrnambool in south-western Victoria.

The solar farms enabled by NBN Co’s PPAs support additional renewables penetration into the grid, playing a role in Australia’s goal of achieving 82 per cent renewables penetration into the grid by 2030 – as the nation transitions to net zero by 2050.

NBN Co's target of 100 per cent renewable electricity purchases from December 2025² is underpinned by membership of the RE100, a global renewable electricity initiative comprising more than 400 of the world's largest businesses.

NBN Co was the first Australian telecommunications company and first Australian Government Business Enterprise to join RE100.

The company has a target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its operations and across the value chain by FY2045.

As part of its long-term goal of net-zero GHG emissions by FY2045, NBN Co has made long-term targets³, which have been validated by the SBTi⁴, as follows:

• NBN Co commits to maintain a minimum reduction of 95 per cent absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from FY30 through FY45 from a FY21 base year.
• NBN Co commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 90 per cent by FY45 from a FY21 base year.

These new targets follow NBN Co’s 2023 commitment to near-term science based targets², which were also validated by the SBTi, and are as follows:

• NBN Co commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 95 per cent by FY30 from a FY21 base year.
• NBN Co also commits to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from use of sold products by 60 per cent per device within the same timeframe.
• NBN Co further commits that 80 per cent of its suppliers by spend, covering purchased goods and services, capital goods, and downstream transportation and distribution, will have science-based targets by FY27.

NBN Co aims to create and protect value by building a resource-efficient, climate-resilient network and business while also protecting and restoring the environment. Taking energy-efficient fibre deeper into communities to meet the growing digital demands of Australia’s homes and businesses enables long-term reductions in network power demand and provides improved resilience for customers.

The company is on track to enable up to 10 million premises, or around 90 per cent of premises on the nbn Fixed Line network, to access the nbn^® Home Hyperfast wholesale speed tier, which is capable of achieving peak wholesale download speeds of 2 Gbps⁵, by the end of 2025.

Gavin Williams, Chief Development Officer, Regional and Remote at NBN Co, said:

“The nbn^® network is a significant consumer of electricity and the harnessing of power from all three of our PPAs has enabled us to meet our target of 100 per cent renewable electricity purchases from December 2025.

“We set a target in 2021, and with the successful completion of the Munna Creek Solar Farm, we are delivering on our commitments.

“Expanding the use of renewable energy sources and investing in energy efficiency, including deployment of fibre, enables us to drive down our emissions and operating costs.

“The nbn network is critical digital infrastructure, and as we support the online needs of over 20 million people across Australia every day, we are committed to operating a climate-resilient resource-efficient network and business, aligned with the latest climate science, which protects the natural environment.”

Footnotes

1. 2025 Annual Report, page 14.
2. NBN Co announces 100% Renewable Electricity target and Towards Zero Carbon ambition
3. Corporate Plan
4. Science Based Targets - Companies Taking Action
5. An end customer’s experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn^® network, depends on some factors outside NBN Co’s control (like equipment quality, software, and how a retail service provider designs its network) and the NBN Co technology used for the connection. Service availability, including timing, will depend on phone and internet providers offering nbn^® Hyperfast and is subject to service qualification and only available where network capacity and equipment permits.  

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