Opposition leader Luke Foley is promising to "massively increase" solar generation in NSW if elected in 2019 by installing panels on the rooftops of government buildings including schools, hospitals and police stations.
In his budget reply speech to be delivered on Thursday, Mr Foley will also call on the government to invest in battery storage technology to avoid blackouts and pledge to not build the F6 extension through the Royal National Park.
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According to speech excerpts released by his office, Mr Foley will note that on February 10 this year "NSW ran out of power" – a reference to the strain on the electricity grid during extreme heatwave conditions.
Mr Foley will say that due to inaction by the Berejiklian government, NSW is "staring down the barrel at the possibility of blackouts this coming summer."
Noting that Queensland, Victoria and South Australia are either considering or are investing in battery storage as part of the solution, Mr Foley will call on the NSW government to do the same.
"There is an immediate need for more energy generation that can reliably contribute towards meeting demand on the hottest summer afternoons," he will say.
"Battery storage is essential to ensuring the supply of energy at the times of greatest demand.
"I call on the Government to immediately tender for 100 megawatts (MW) of storage to be delivered and in place for this coming summer."
![Luke Foley wants to "massively increase" rooftop solar in NSW.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170624044755im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/u/g/f/t/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwvo3i.png/1498030006786.jpg)
To further shore up energy supply Mr Foley will promise a NSW Labor government will "massively increase solar energy generation on the rooftops of government buildings."
"Across the New South Wales public sector, including local government, there is a multitude of opportunities to install rooftop solar on buildings such as schools, TAFEs, hospitals, police stations, libraries, administration buildings, courts and depots," he will say.
"This is an industry in itself – and with considerable growth potential. The only thing missing today is the political will to make it happen."
Following revelations by Fairfax Media that the government is considering acquiring 60 hectares of the Royal National Park for the proposed F6 Extension between Sydney and the Illawarra, Mr Foley will pledge to nominate the park for World Heritage listing.
Mr Foley notes the Royal National Park is Australia's oldest and the world's second oldest, after Yellowstone in the United States.
"Not even President Donald J. Trump would plough a motorway through Yellowstone," he will say.
"And Labor, the party that built the finest national park system in the world here in New South Wales, won't have a bar of a toll road being carved through our state's most popular, most visited national park, a mecca for our citizens and for tourists, a refuge for hundreds of plant and animal species, and 300 species of birds."