A commitment to working toward a goal of net zero emissions has seen Cobar Shire Council implement some innovative strategies, and one of these has just won them a state-wide award.

The Local Government NSW announced their Excellence in Environment Awards: Towards Net Zero Emissions last week, and Cobar Shire Council took out the top award for their category which included councils with a population of less than 30,000 residents.

The project which won the award was the implementation of the Cobar Water and Sewer Treatment Plants Solar Arrays.

Cobar Shire Mayor, Jarrod Marsden, said they had made use of one of Cobar’s key resources – the sun.

“Council built a new water filtration plant not long ago and as part of that process, we built ourselves a great big storage shed for all of our spares,” Mr Marsden said.

“To help us reach our net-zero objective, we designed the shed to include solar panels on the roof.”

“It’s a big shed and the panels offset some of the power that the water treatment plant uses.

"Once we achieved that project and were nominated for the award and were lucky enough to win.

"We didn’t send anyone along to the ceremony because we didn’t expect to win, but it is a huge honour and worthy recognition of council’s work."

Solar panels one minute, wind farms the next - Cobar Shire Council is embracing its goal of net zero emissions. (Photo: WestWind Energy)

Mr Marsden said the solar panels produce enough power to supply upwards of 60 percent of what the water filtration plant uses.

In his words, “it’s a fair chunk.”

The filtration plants been in place for about three years and a 30-kilowatt solar array system has been there for about 18 months, and they aren't the only environmentally friendly system that the Cobar Shire engages.

“We recycle and reuse about 80 per cent of our of our sewerage water, which goes onto the golf course and sporting fields,” Mr Marsden said.

“We also have a 20-kilowatt solar system down at the pool to offset some of the costs with the filtration system down there.

"This allows us to run the heaters at the pool, which gives us pool season that is a month longer than it used to be.”

“One thing we put no shortage on here is space and sunshine so big banks of solar panels are not too much of an issue.”

Looking forward, Mr Marsden said the council is welcoming the finalisation of a wind farm neat the Endeavor mine, the first one in the shire.

"That wind farm isn’t too far off, and council have been talking with another four companies about the possibility of four more wind farms across the shire.

"We don’t necessarily have high winds, but they are consistent.

"When you when you look at the numbers, they stack up fairly well,” Mr Marsden said.

“Because we're at the end of the line when it comes to power, one of the things that holds Cobar back from growing any bigger, including the mines, is that there’s limited power and water.

"The mines out here can't get any bigger than they are currently, so one of the issues that these wind farms will help will be to offer a local supply so that industry can actually grow further.”