The Sydney Opera House might have “sustainability in its DNA” but there is still a huge energy bill to take care of every year. Now with a new power purchase agreement that energy bill will be both stabilised and renewable.

The building will source its “well-known power profile” from large scale wind and solar projects in NSW, the Sapphire wind farm and the Bomen solar farm, both currently under construction, according to The Fifth State Australia.

According to Energetics, the corporate PPA mechanism is a market developing at a “remarkable pace”.

The Sydney Opera House deal was negotiated by renewable energy retailer Flow Power and will see the building invest its annual $2.4 million electricity spend in sourcing power from renewable power projects – a total investment of more than $16 million over the next seven years, with options to extend.

According to the head of the building, Ian Cashen, it’s a running joke that solar panels or wind turbines can’t be put on the roof, so the PPA is a way the precinct can virtually meet its energy needs without fossil fuels.