New report targets “quick wins” to support Federal environmental approvals for large-scale renewable energy projects

Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) and Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) has today released a new report, Delivering Major Clean Energy Projects – Review of the EPBC Act for Renewable Energy Projects in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

The report identifies the current roadblocks to investment in large-scale renewable projects in Australia and ten “quick wins” to support greater investment in the energy transition.  

The report focuses primarily on the assessment of large-scale renewable energy projects (principally wind and solar) referred to for review under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) between 2018 to 2024 in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. It highlights that assessments under the EPBC Act are contributing to project delays and procedural impediments.

The key findings include:

• Nearly doubling in the number of projects being referred under the EPBC Act from 2020 to 2023.
• Substantial increases to the administrative timeframes under the EPBC Act, with the average decision-making periods for whether a project is a “controlled action” (requiring comprehensive environmental assessment and approval) increasing from 68 days in 2020 to 136 days in 2023.
• A growing backlog of projects. In the report dataset, for projects referred in 2022 that are controlled actions under the EPBC Act, only 3 have obtained a final decision. None of the projects referred in 2023 or 2024 that are controlled actions, have obtained a final decision.
• Extended final decision timelines, with projects referred in 2019 averaging 505 days (1.3 years) and those in 2021 taking an average of 831 days (2.2 years) to secure a final decision.

CEIG CEO, Richie Merzian, said: “It is unfortunate that as the roll out of renewable energy projects gathers pace, there is a doubling of renewable projects referred to the EPBC Act and a doubling in time to assess them. Inconsistent and inefficient regulatory processes are hindering the billions of dollars of investment needed for Australia’s clean energy transition.”

“Clean Energy Investor Group and Herbert Smith Freehills research shows the roadblocks to rolling out major renewable projects are largely within the control of the federal government to address.

“There are short term fixes that can be introduced to increase the efficiency and coordination of assessment processes for renewable energy projects, and unlock billions in investments to decarbonise the nation while achieving better environmental outcomes.”

Key recommendations in the report include:

• Aligning State and Federal assessment processes to eliminate duplication.
• Limiting and clarifying requests for additional information to reduce procedural bottlenecks and delays.
• Increasing resourcing within the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) to handle assessments efficiently.
• Standardising environmental conditions and updating and reforming Commonwealth offset policies, as proposed in the Samuel review, to improve predictability and transparency.
• Considering single EPBC Act referrals to provide a landscape-scale assessment for Renewable Energy Zones.

HSF Environment, Planning and Communities partner, Kathryn Pacey, said: “Consistent feedback throughout the preparation of our previous reports with CEIG, as well as our own experience, is that much of the delay, financial impost and procedural impediments to the delivery of renewable energy projects result from interfaces with the EPBC Act.”

"We’ve identified ten quick administrative wins to accelerate EPBC Act assessments and support more predictable processes and timeframes for renewable projects. Implementing these wins, along with other legislative reforms, such as the proposed Nature Positive reforms, will speed up energy transition projects without undermining the need to protect and enhance biodiversity in Australia.”

HSF Environment, Planning and Communities partner, Peter Briggs, said: “The timely implementation of our recommendations will help to boost investor confidence in renewable energy projects because of greater certainty on project timelines and developments. This is currently a major barrier to progressing clean energy projects in Australia, and some simple fixes will make a big difference to the delivery of projects as well as the nation’s energy transition goals.”

The report was prepared by members of the HSF Environment, Planning and Communities team, including partners’ Kathryn Pacey and Peter Briggs, senior associate, Tom Dougherty, and solicitor, Riley Quinn.

This is the third report released in partnership with CEIG. You can view the other two reports at Delivering Major Clean Energy Projects in Queensland and Victoria: Review of Statutory Planning Approvals Processes and Delivering Major Clean Energy Projects in NSW - Review of NSW Statutory Planning Approvals Processes.