Renewable energy sector demands governments make planning laws easier for projects

The renewable energy sector wants governments to change planning laws to make it easier to get badly needed projects off the ground.

The renewable energy industry says it is being held back by outdated planning regimes and unnecessary red tape, making it harder to get projects off the ground, as a new study found the world was lagging behind 2030 green targets needed to move away from fossil fuels.

The sector, which has cautioned a “silly” debate around nuclear threatens investment, has also warned the government risks turning investors away from funding projects across Australia.

Analysis from the Clean Energy Council shows large-scale solar projects added 1.9GW

to the grid in 2023, but the pipeline stalled last year with new financial commitments at just over 1GW in total, compared to the 6GW per annum needed.

ASX-listed Genex’s chief executive Craig Francis said the federal government was behind the single biggest bottleneck prohibiting renewable projects from getting off the ground.

“The number one agenda item in the renewable energy space is EPBC (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) approvals pathway and how long it can take, the uncertainty that surrounds it, and the lack of transparency,” Mr Francis said at the CEC Australian Large-Scale Solar & Storage Summit.

Mr Francis said the bottleneck was a key concern and hoped additional funding announced in the federal budget for resourcing was a sign the government was aware of the issue.

“They can’t not be aware of this when industry is screaming at them,” he said.

“It very well could just be down to resourcing and a very under-resourced department trying to get through hundreds, if not thousands of applications. It does take its toll, so we’ll see how things improved from here, but it’s obviously a key area of focus.”

The Albanese government has set an ambitious target of having renewable energy generate more than 80 per cent of the country’s energy by 2030, which it said will allow the country to meet legislated targets to reduce carbon emissions by 43 per cent.

The International Energy Agency on Tuesday said the world was only on track to build 70 per cent of a goal of tripling renewables by the end of this decade.

It also pointed to a number of similar challenges in developing a huge pipeline of renewable developments to meet green targets.

”Key challenges remain, from lengthy wait times for project permits, inadequate investment in grid infrastructure, the need to quickly and cost-efficiently integrate variable renewables, and high financing costs, especially in emerging and developing economies,” the IEA said.

The report proposes targeted actions that countries can take to address these obstacles. For example, on reducing financing costs to improve the bankability of renewable projects, it suggests approaches such as improving long-term policy visibility; supporting projects in the pre-development phase; and reducing price, inflation and exchange rate risks.”

Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton agreed planning is a major challenge impacting the ability to get renewable projects off the ground within a reasonable time frame.

“The planning regime is not fit for purpose,” he said. “It hasn’t been designed and reformed in preparation for renewables, for battery projects, for green hydrogen projects and this has become a major challenge.”

Genex CEO Craig Francis highlighted Queensland as an example where planning processes are more streamlined. Picture: Glen Norris

Mr Thornton said there had been movement within state and federal governments indicating they are waking up to the need to focus on planning reform amid countless horror stories about the way businesses have been treated.

“There’s a lot of focus and momentum and getting the balance right. It is clearly recognised as a priority again,” he said.

“No one is suggesting we should be cutting corners, but the processes aren’t fit for purpose and they need to change.”

Genex operates one facility in NSW and a number of projects in Queensland, including its Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project (K2-Hydro) which is the first pumped hydro project to be developed in over 40 years in Australia.

Mr Francis said planning regimes in many jurisdictions such as NSW were difficult and highlighted Queensland as a positive example.

“Queensland is a great place to operate and part of that is that it benefits from a centralised co-ordination from the government but also the approvals pathways seem to be a lot less complex than they are the jurisdictions,” he said.

The CEC also wants Australia to invest in emerging forms of long duration energy storage which Mr Thornton said is central to maintaining security and reliability of the power system as levels of renewable generation increase.

Long duration energy storage would allow big batteries to store solar or wind for up to four hours, while range-pumped hydro can be stored for days and weeks.

“What we’re talking about here is storage and that’s sort of overnight through the 12-24 hour storage time frame,” he said.

In the US, long form energy storage was being pushed by government and private investment, and he thinks the time is right for these technologies to play a bigger role in Australia.

“There’s some reform needed around some of the policies and incentives for the government,” Mr Thornton said.

Originally published as Renewable energy sector demands governments make planning laws easier for projects