Changes to land and planning regulations in Victoria, Australia, aim to speed up the development of renewable energy projects in the state, which intends to have at least 2 GW of offshore wind energy by 2032, increasing to 4 GW by 2035 and 9 GW by 2040.
On March 5, 2024, the Energy and Public Land Legislation Amendment (Enabling Offshore Wind Energy) bill was presented to parliament, with the aim of amending several parliamentary acts to support the development of the offshore wind industry. It would allow offshore wind developers to obtain tenure over public land for the purpose of investigating the suitable placement of offshore electricity infrastructure.
According to law firm Hall & Wilcox: “While offshore wind farms will be located in commonwealth waters, offshore wind connection infrastructure, such as transmission cables, will traverse public land currently managed across different Victorian Acts. Simplifying the licences related to these different acts will enable proponents to undertake investigations and assess the feasibility of proposed projects in Victorian waters more easily.”
One of the changes will be to the Electricity Industry Act, whereby an entity can be declared as an offshore wind generation company. This new licence category will allow offshore wind proponents to access public land up to three nautical miles from the coast. These exploratory licences can be granted for a period up to a maximum of 21 years.
“The land that will be able to be accessed by licensees includes any Victorian public or crown land, including marine national parks and state parks,” added Hall & Wilcox. “These various types of state land are currently governed under multiple different acts, and the bill will amend each to ensure consistency across the different types of public land.”
The bill will also streamline the process for applying for these licences, with existing provisions that currently require a public hearing under the Land Act being repealed to expedite land transactions. While the process will be streamlined, proponents will still be required to gain relevant consents and agreements under any other relevant legislation.
The bill is currently at second reading stage in the legislative assembly. Once approved, it will be sent to the legislative council for review.
Separately, the government has also announced plans to expedite the planning pathway for renewable energy projects under the Development Facilitation Program (DFP).
According to Hall & Wilcox, decisions will be able to be made in as little as four months and will be handled by a dedicated facilitation team. “The dedicated team will be involved with the ongoing monitoring of approvals, aimed at identifying hurdles for projects earlier in the process. While third-party objections can still be made, without the associated appeal rights, the changes aim to significantly reduce the timeframe from application to final grant of approvals and commencement of projects.
“Importantly, if a project requires an Environmental Effects Statement (EES), then it is ineligible for the process. This should bring some comfort to communities and environmental groups that projects in sensitive areas that trigger a referral under the EES regime will still be subject to third party submissions and a public inquiry hearing if necessary.”
This is where the benefits of the “fast-track process” could be limited; many large-scale projects will likely trigger the EES process, for instance if there is removal of 10 ha or more of native vegetation or impacts wetlands. “This may therefore undermine much of the efficiency gained by the DFP process for those projects, given that preparation of an EES and associated Technical Reference Group (TRG) processes and Public Inquiry hearings can take upwards of three years from referral stage,” Hall & Wilcox explained. “It may be that the guidelines, and indeed the TRG process for EES assessments, also need to be reviewed and better streamlined to avoid delays in major renewable projects and achievement of Net Zero targets.”
In any case, these are positive developments by the Victorian government to streamline the process and promote the offshore wind industry in the state – something that will certainly be of interest to the supporting supply chain.
However, other bottlenecks in that chain will also need to be addressed. Last year, the plan to develop an offshore wind terminal at the port of Hastings was rejected by the federal government over concerns to the surrounding wetlands and wildlife.
The Victorian government had chosen Hastings as the location of a proposed Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal. According to Port of Hastings Corporation, the terminal at the Old Tyabb Reclamation Area would have delivered critical port capacity to assemble wind turbines and meet the state’s offshore wind targets. Proposed development activities included seabed reclamation for wharf infrastructure and developments on existing and reclaimed land to allow for storage of cargo and handling equipment.
An update from the port of Hastings in mid-February stated that it is “assessing the decision and considering our options”.
