In September, the federal government also gave final approval to the Narrabri underground mine extension and two Hunter Valley mines.

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The report notes the NSW government is considering another 33 planning applications for existing coal operations, 22 of which could affect the state’s emissions.

Earlier this year, the NSW Environment Protection Authority signalled that the Hunter Valley operations expansion was the biggest coal mining proposal in NSW history. The report notes the company has withdrawn that application but intends to resubmit next year.

NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said the mining industry was required to reduce emissions and would continue to do so through direct abatement, offsets and new technology.

The commission’s report also warns that the renewable energy transition needs to be accelerated to meet 2030 goals and the May decision to defer the closure of the Eraring power station to shore up power security would have consequences.

“Every year that Eraring continues operations beyond 2025 means the state’s emissions will be significantly higher than with an earlier closure,” the report says.

In 2023-24, nearly two-thirds of NSW’s electricity generation was from coal and more than a third from renewables, the report says.

The NSW government will respond to the report next year.

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Since April 2023, the government has approved six onshore wind farms, 11 large-scale solar farms and 14 battery energy storage systems.

As of November 2024, there are 56 utility scale solar farms, 13 onshore wind farms and 61 battery energy storage systems under construction or with planning approval.

Legalise Cannabis MP Jeremy Buckingham said the report was “an alarming wake-up call” that NSW was not on track to meet “bare minimum” targets.

“If these coal mines go ahead, it will ... mean that agriculture, manufacturing, construction, transport, waste will all have to cut deeper and faster, at great expense for them,” Buckingham said. “Essentially, the decision is, do they want to subsidise the expansion of coal in this state?”

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