NSW renewable energy planning delays and opportunities

The current slow pace of Australia’s clean energy transition – generation, storage and transmission build and connection – is putting electricity security, reliability and affordability at risk, in the short and long term. There are very real concerns that we will fail to meet national and New South Wales renewable energy and emissions reduction targets.

Unfortunately, New South Wales is close to the back of the pack in rolling out large-scale renewable energy projects.

The planning approval process in NSW is 2-3 times slower than other states, adding 4-7 years to project progression and 25 times more expensive for developers compared to an equivalent project than in Queensland.

Delaying the closure of ageing coal-fired power stations, such as Eraring, to shore up power supply reliability in the near term will result in higher costs and emissions over the long term. The better approach would be to accelerate the rate at which we deploy new clean energy resources.

The NSW Government should focus on the pipeline of renewable generation and battery projects that are already in the planning process.

Prioritising and accelerating the connections of these projects will provide investor certainty for financial close and facilitate timely commissioning. Any reliability gaps identified by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and AEMO Services are already being addressed.

Full paper can be accessed here: Nexa Advisory NSW Planning delays and opportunities