Amend NSW planning laws or transition is at risk, energy developers warn

NSW has ambitious energy transition goals, but renewables developers warn the targets are only feasible with urgent changes to planning laws.

Early opposition to a large-scale wind farm near Teesdale and Lethbridge is ramping up, with local residents citing a number of concerns. Pic shows concerned residents opposed to the wind farm gather in Lethbridge Picture: Mark Wilson

Renewable energy developers have told the NSW government to slash the buffer zone between giant wind farms and nearby communities in a bid to fast-track a rollout of green electricity as fears grow over Australia failing to keep pace with an ambitious 2030 goal.

The fresh threat comes amid revelations Victoria’s offshore wind targets are likely to take longer to meet and be significantly more expensive than the state government has predicted, with one expert warning that offshore wind will “certainly be more expensive than almost every other alternative energy source”.

Big wind and solar developers are urging NSW to amend planning laws covering the development of renewable energy projects or miss its transition goals, as the state Labor government struggles to reconcile its zero-emission ambitions with supporting regional communities.

NSW’s plan is to develop so-called “renewable energy zones” that contain a mix of concentrated zero-emission sources, allowing the state to minimise the building of new transmission lines.

But developers have warned establishing zero-emission projects within them is prohibitively difficult and could mean not enough renewables are online before coal power stations are phased out.

Residents who live within 8km of a wind turbine in NSW have to be consulted over the development, and renewable operators say that buffer zone is too big and unrealistic for projects to proceed.

“Under the rules in NSW, affected properties can be up to 6km to 8km away. Compare that to Victoria where if you are outside of 1.5km then residents do not have any say,” said a renewable energy developer who declined to be named for fear of jeopardising their relationship with the government. “If you can’t get agreement with all affected people, then projects will become unviable. In certain REZs where there are large populations, projects are going to be hard to get off the ground.”

Sources highlighted the Central-West Orana REZ, an area about 20,000sq km centred on Dubbo and Dunedoo, as the most troublesome in NSW.

The fresh threat follows a report on Wednesday showing spending on large-scale renewable energy developments during 2023 fell nearly 80 per cent from the previous year, a hammer blow to federal Labor’s plan to rapidly accelerate the rollout of new zero-emission energy sources.

The NSW Labor government has flagged that it is considering planning law changes, but industry sources said initial amendments proposed did not go far enough.

NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully blamed the previous government for delays.

“We inherited a planning system that was complex and confusing, which severely impacted on the delivery of renewable energy projects,” Mr Scully told The Australian.

“I’m determined to reform the planning system to better support the renewable energy transition in NSW. We’re already doing better than the previous government, having approved the first wind farm in NSW in 2½ years.”

But NSW is widely seen as falling well behind, with work slowed by a logjam in planning and environmental approvals – encapsulated in December 2023 when the Yanco Delta wind farm, developed by Belgian company Virya Energy, became the first such onshore wind development to secure regulatory approvals in nearly three years.

The NSW government late last year proposed a series of policy tweaks that industry sources said sought to weigh the views of those according to how visually affected they are.

Mr Scully said a draft Energy Policy Framework introduced in November 2023 would create a faster process for approvals.

Opposition to renewable energy developments is small but growing and there is growing concern among the industry that the transition could be upended as high electricity bills and the prospect of developments occupying vast areas stir criticism.

The renewable energy industry has also been hindered by what Energy Infrastructure Commissioner Andrew Dyer dubbed “cowboys”.

Mr Dyer said the tactics of some developers had sowed deep mistrust and the government would need to act to repair the industry’s standing.

The federal government has promised to enact Mr Dyer’s recommendation of a new ratings system to allow stakeholders access to better information about who they are dealing with.