EnergyAustralia will invest $1.5 billion in new wind and solar projects across eastern Australia as part of a move towards renewables.
The electricity provider has committed to buying 500 megawatts of power from wind and solar plants, more than doubling the amount of energy it can source from renewables.
It said on Wednesday it had bought the output from a planned 42.6 megawatt solar farm at Manildra in central west NSW, which will be able to power 14,000 homes per year when completed in 2018.
Managing director Catherine Tanna said EnergyAustralia was looking to lead the development of cleaner energy even though it owns two of the biggest coal power stations in the country.
"These are the projects which will come to underpin energy supply in Australia as coal-fired power plants are retired," she said in a statement.
EnergyAustralia plans to ink a 13-year agreement with the Manildra farm by the end of December.
The company already has the rights to more than 450 megawatts of electricity from wind farms in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
EnergyAustralia's pledge comes after Origin Energy inked a 15-year contract in March with the Moree Solar Farm in northern NSW, which can power 24,000 homes.
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