Australia lagging behind on renewable energy transition

  • 8 months ago
Within six years, the federal government wants to massively increase the share of renewables in Australia's power grid from about 32 per cent, to 82 per cent.

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00:00 Well, this report has been conducted by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills and the Clean
00:07 Energy Investor Group.
00:08 And what they've done is analysed five years' worth of data from New South Wales, the most
00:12 populous state, to find out the average approval timeframes for a large-scale renewable energy
00:19 project.
00:20 So basically, how long it's taking the department to plan, I mean, to approve wind, solar and
00:24 battery projects.
00:25 And the numbers are big.
00:27 For a wind farm, the analysis says it's taking 3,488 days on average.
00:33 For solar farms, it's 705 days.
00:36 And for batteries, it's 530 days.
00:38 Now, this is just the red tape, the approvals process.
00:42 It doesn't take into account how long it takes for developers to do the pre-planning work
00:46 or how long it takes to actually build these projects.
00:49 So speaking to a lot of renewable developers, New South Wales, according to them, is regarded
00:55 as the most difficult state to get these kinds of projects off the ground.
00:59 The planning rules there are described as cumbersome and confusing.
01:03 And a lot of them now are turning their attention to Queensland, which still has a state-owned
01:07 electricity network and where the planning rules are considered a lot clearer.
01:11 Now, the Commonwealth hasn't escaped criticism in this analysis.
01:16 According to the report, federal bureaucrats are taking up to three years to assess a project
01:20 against federal environmental laws.
01:23 Now, given we are in this once in a century energy transformation, the Clean Energy Investor
01:28 Group has described these delays as unacceptable and basically slowing the pace of the energy
01:35 transition.
01:36 Now, in a statement, New South Wales says it has cut assessment timeframes for new projects
01:42 by 60% since 2016.
01:45 And it notes, Ros, that industry has a role to play too.
01:48 Of the 93 large-scale wind and solar farms that it has actually approved, 55 of them
01:54 are still not operating.
01:56 So what this kind of shows us, the picture this is painting, is that at the moment, there
02:00 is a bit of a gulf between ambition, we have governments with ambitious climate and renewable
02:05 energy targets, and the reality of what's actually happening on the ground.
02:09 So with experts worrying, Jane, that it's slowing the clean energy transition, what
02:13 are they asking the states to do?
02:15 Well, the Clean Energy Investor Group reckons that there is a very simple fix.
02:19 You can fast-track approvals for wind, solar, hydro and battery projects by declaring them
02:24 as critical infrastructure.
02:25 Now, states already have these laws and generally apply them to big projects like new highways,
02:32 new mines and new ports.
02:35 The Investor Group is saying that using that same law, the same declaration, would help
02:41 basically get this transition back on track.
02:43 And given that we are undergoing this huge transformation right now, the Investor Group
02:50 is saying by elevating the importance of new renewable generation, it'll help ensure that
02:54 we actually can keep the lights on as coal-fired power stations close.
02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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