15 March 2021
The NSW government could consider using new powers to prohibit renewable energy projects from connecting to the grid in circumstances where there is strong community opposition to the project, in a message to project developers that building and maintaining strong social licence will be critical to the state’s renewable energy zones.
Speaking to the Large-scale Solar Forum hosted by the Clean Energy Council on Thursday, the NSW government’s director for energy infrastructure and zones, Chloe Hicks, said the development of social licence between renewable energy developers and the communities where projects will be built would be key to the successful development of the renewable energy zones that are planned across New South Wales.
Delivering Renewable Energy From West NSW to 1.4 Million Homes
NSW is pushing ahead with plans to boost its renewable energy footprint with a plan to help distribute enough power for 1.4 million homes from a project based in the state’s central west.
High-voltage transmission lines and substations designed to bring online more renewable energy, will be part of the project which NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean on Dec. 17 said has been deemed critical infrastructure.
“Transmission is such a critical piece of the energy infrastructure puzzle,” he said.
“We have seen huge investment interest in generation and storage projects … and projects like this will ensure we can get that capacity into the grid and into homes and business across the state.”
17 December 2020
The New South Wales government will fast-track planning approvals for the first batch of transmission network upgrades that are set to unlock the state’s first Renewable Energy Zone and billions in new clean energy investment.
NSW planning minister Rob Stokes announced on Thursday that the NSW government had declared the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Transmission project a ‘Critical State Significant Infrastructure’ project, seeing it granted priority status throughout the planning approval process.
The project will see new transmission lines and substations constructed across the Central West Orana region, designed to boost the ability for new wind, solar and storage projects built in the region to connect to the grid and deliver power to the rest of the grid.
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Planning battle weighs on AGL in LNG import race
Dec 16, 2020 – 4.14pm
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AGL Energy has failed to establish the need for its LNG import terminal in Victoria, has inadequately considered Aboriginal cultural values of the site and has not provided enough information to fully assess its potential environmental impact, an independent panel assessing the controversial project has been told.
The 38 days of hearings, which will conclude on Thursday with AGL s final submissions, are part of an extended assessment of the $300 million Crib Point project that has seen AGL fall behind rivals proposing similar import projects, including mining billionaire Andrew Forrest in NSW s Port Kembla.