NSW upper house backs call to give renewables “strategic project” status

As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull performs a sleight of hand on clean energy investment at a federal level, the NSW Legislative Council on Thursday unanimously supported a motion aimed at fast-tracking the development of large-scale renewable energy projects in the state.

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The motion, introduced by the Greens, calls on the state government to designate proposals for large-scale renewables development as ‘Strategic Energy Projects’ – a status aimed at moving the projects through the planning system in an efficient way, and with the assistance of specific case managers.

According to the motion, the government can declare a project to be a Strategic Energy Project if it has the potential to make a substantial contribution to energy security and economic growth, across the State or in a region.

It notes that this has been done in the past for NSW coal seam gas projects being developed by both Santos and AGL.

In a statement released on Thursday, NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said there were currently at least 23 large-scale projects in the NSW planning pipeline, amounting to billions of dollars of regional development and jobs “stuck in system”.

“It’s vital that we rapidly develop renewable energy for our climate and to provide job opportunities in regional NSW, so I’m pleased the Upper House has supported the… motion.

“Planning Minister Rob Stokes said in 2014 “when it comes to clean energy, [NSW] can be Australia’s answer to California’,” Buckingham added.

“Granting Strategic Energy Status to renewable energy projects would be one thing the government could do towards attaining this goal.

“The Greens want a rapid transition away from coal to clean energy and this means ensuring that these projects navigate the planning process in a smooth and speedy way is vitally important,” he said.


Comments

5 responses to “NSW upper house backs call to give renewables “strategic project” status”

  1. Mike Dill Avatar
    Mike Dill

    NSW and ACT are going to run away with the win as the Federal government continues to stumble. Not sure if WA or SA will get their acts together in a reasonable amount of time.

    1. solarguy Avatar
      solarguy

      Mike, don’t get to excited just yet as it’s only a motion. Nothing is written in stone!

  2. david H Avatar

    Lets hope the motion is passed. We need a circuit breaker to get large scale renewable projects moving in NSW. This will also speed up the closure of the older coalfired power stations. (Hopefully at no direct cost the the tax payer).

  3. Chris Fraser Avatar
    Chris Fraser

    With wind in SA, hydro in TAS and solar in NSW I can think of three states with the lion’s share of investment of CEFC money.

    1. Glen S Avatar
      Glen S

      We need more wind farms and solar here in TAS, clearly we cannot be dependent on hydro as we have in the past with changing rainfall patterns.

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