AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alexander Danne, Roy Groom, Rohit Venkat and Georgia Summerhill, Clayton Utz
tion legislation, water access entitlements and report- ing obligations under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (Cth). Renewable energy projects must address aviation safety requirements (administered by CASA for wind farms), Aboriginal cultural heritage obligations under state-based herit- age legislation, and biodiversity offset requirements. Offshore wind projects are subject to the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 (Cth), which estab- lishes a separate Commonwealth licensing regime for feasibility, construction and operation in declared offshore areas. 3.2 Obtaining Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities The regulatory process for obtaining approvals to site, construct and operate a commercial generation facil- ity involves multiple sequential steps across state and Commonwealth jurisdictions. As noted in 3.1 Constructing and Operating Gen- eration Facilities , state planning approval is the pri- mary gateway. For large-scale projects, this typically involves lodging a development application accom- panied by an Environmental Impact Statement or equivalent assessment document. In NSW, projects exceeding specified capacity thresholds are assessed as State Significant Developments. In Victoria, major projects may be subject to an Environment Effects Statement under the Environment Effects Act 1978. In Queensland, significant projects may be “called in” by the Coordinator-General for a whole-of-government evaluation. The decision-maker varies by jurisdiction and project scale – ranging from local councils for smaller facilities to independent planning commis- sions to state planning ministers for the largest pro- jects. Community consultation is a standard feature of the assessment process. Most jurisdictions require pub- lic exhibition of the application and environmental assessment, during which any person may lodge sub- missions. Public hearings may be convened at the discretion of the decision-maker, particularly where a project is contentious or raises novel issues. Commu- nity opposition, which often relates to visual amenity, noise or land-use impacts, has become increasingly material in project timelines.
Where the EPBC Act is triggered, a separate Com- monwealth referral and assessment process runs concurrently with state approval. Bilateral assess- ment agreements between the Commonwealth and most states allow a single integrated environmental assessment to satisfy both requirements, although the Commonwealth retains a separate approval decision. Beyond planning and environmental approvals, pro- ponents must also obtain Aboriginal cultural heritage approvals under state-based legislation, comply with the future act provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) where native title interests exist, secure biodiver- sity offset arrangements where habitat is disturbed, and obtain water access licences where the project requires water extraction. The grid connection process operates in parallel. Pro- ponents apply to the relevant transmission or distribu- tion network service provider, negotiate a connection agreement satisfying the NER technical standards, and register with the AEMO. Connection timelines have lengthened considerably due to congestion in Renewable Energy Zones and limited hosting capac- ity, prompting AEMC rule reforms to improve the effi- ciency of the connection process. 3.3 Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities Development approvals for generation facilities typi- cally impose a range of conditions tailored to the pro- ject’s technology, scale, location and environmental context. Common conditions include noise limits (particularly for wind farms, where compliance is typically meas- ured against state-specific noise guidelines at nearby residences), visual amenity requirements, such as set- back distances and screening vegetation, biodiversity offset obligations requiring the proponent to conserve or rehabilitate equivalent habitat elsewhere, and traf- fic management plans governing construction vehicle movements. For thermal generation, conditions may extend to air emissions limits, water discharge stand- ards and ash dam management requirements. Ongoing compliance obligations are standard. These frequently include environmental monitoring pro-
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