AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alexander Danne, Roy Groom, Rohit Venkat and Georgia Summerhill, Clayton Utz
Coal-fired power stations Decommissioning obligations for coal-fired generation vary between jurisdictions under state environmental legislation. In Victoria, coal-fired power stations are required to hold a K01 development and operating licence for power generation under Schedule 1 of the Environ- ment Protection Regulations 2021 (Vic). Condition OL_G07 to K01 operating licences requires licensees to develop and maintain a decommissioning plan in accordance with decommissioning guidelines, which must be supplied to the EPA at least 40 business days prior to decommissioning commencing. In New South Wales, decommissioning is dealt with under the environmental protection licensing regime. Schedule 1 of the Protection of the Environment Oper- ations Act 1997 (NSW) requires coal works to obtain an environmental protection licence. Power station closure is carried out in accordance with licence conditions and relevant legislation. Associated mine rehabilitation obligations under mining legislation rep- resent a significant additional cost. Renewable energy projects For renewable energy projects, decommissioning obli- gations typically arise from conditions imposed in the original development consent. There is no national legislative basis for decommissioning renewable ener- gy facilities; instead, guidelines have been released at both federal and state levels shifting the onus onto developers at the planning stage to consider and budget for end-of-life obligations. The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner’s 2023 guide- line recommends that decommissioning matters be addressed in landholder lease agreements. In NSW, guidelines released in 2024 affirm the requirement for all wind and solar projects to be decommissioned at end of life, and include a decommissioning calcula- tor to facilitate informed investment decisions. In Queensland, State Code 23 (effective February 2025) requires wind farm development applications to be supported by decommissioning reports and plans, with conditions requiring financial security to ensure timely compliance at no cost to landowners or gov- ernment.
Planning conditions commonly require removal of all above-ground infrastructure (turbines, panels, invert- ers and associated structures) and rehabilitation of the land within 18 months of operations ceasing. Impor- tantly, development consent attaches to the land rather than to a particular company, meaning that if a developer becomes insolvent, decommissioning obli- gations may fall on the landholder. This risk has driven increasing calls for mandatory financial assurance at the planning stage. For offshore renewable projects, the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 (Cth) requires developers to provide financial securities to the Commonwealth covering decommissioning costs, with failure to do so constituting an offence. Contaminated land For all generation technologies, state contaminated land legislation (such as the Contaminated Land Man- agement Act 1997 (NSW) or the Environment Protec- tion Act 2017 (Vic)) may impose remediation obliga- tions where site contamination is identified during or following decommissioning. 4. Transmission Lines and Associated Facilities 4.1 Constructing and Operating Transmission Lines and Associated Facilities The ownership, construction and operation of trans- mission lines and associated facilities (including grid- scale storage co-located with transmission infrastruc- ture) is governed by a combination of national energy legislation, state planning and electricity supply laws, and Commonwealth environmental legislation. Under the National Electricity Law and National Elec- tricity Rules, transmission network service providers (TNSPs) must be registered with the AEMO and com- ply with detailed technical standards, network perfor- mance requirements and revenue regulation by the AER. The NER (principally Chapters 5 and 6A) pre- scribe the framework for connection, access, planning and economic regulation of transmission services. In Western Australia, transmission is regulated under the Electricity Networks Access Code 2004 and the Elec- tricity Industry Act 2004 (WA), with Western Power operating as the principal TNSP within the SWIS.
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