New South Wales Priorities Renewable Energy Projects Under New Planning Law
Published August 27, 2026
Australia’s New South Wales government has introduced legislation that will speed up the process of building renewable energy plants as their coal plants are set to close. The Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 will see the Energy Minister have the power to decide which projects will prove to be most advantageous.
The bill will facilitate the fast-tracking of approvals for projects related to generation, storage, and the network, while all the other environmental and social requirements would remain intact. The developers would have to fulfill their obligation of adhering to planning, environmental, and consultation requirements, and priority projects would need to set benchmarks for engagement with landowners and communities, especially regional communities.
The NSW energy and climate change minister, Penny Sharpe, stated that the bill will ensure the infrastructure needed to support the heavy industry like Tomago aluminum smelter will not be delayed in the planning queue.
“By bringing this new piece of legislation into law, we will help make sure that our infrastructure projects vital for employment in manufacturing industries, economy and affordable energy don’t get stuck in the queue. Regardless of where you’re from in this state, you’ll be better off because we are doing the work and delivering good renewable energy projects fast as we can,” Sharpe said.
The Tomago smelter that uses more than 12% of the electricity demand in NSW could potentially be closed until the federal and state governments decided in December 2025 to intervene and save the company with a long-term fixed price power purchase agreement supported by the construction of the renewable energy infrastructure.
Renewable energy sources generate about 36% of the electricity supply per year in NSW with many periods of summer 2025-26 where renewables generate more than 80% of the total electricity supply mix.
The state has approved 13.76GW of renewable energy generation, 18.91GW of energy storage systems and 2GW of long-duration storage projects since 2019, with a target of at least 16GW of new renewable energy generation capacity by 2030.
| NSW Renewable Energy Development | Current / Target |
|---|---|
| Renewable share of annual electricity supply | About 36% |
| Renewable share during some summer 2025–26 periods | More than 80% |
| Renewable generation approved since 2019 | 13.76 GW |
| Energy storage approved since 2019 | 18.91 GW |
| Long-duration storage approved | 2 GW |
| New renewable generation target by 2030 | At least 16 GW |
| Community benefits allocated since Nov 2024 | More than AU$180 million |
| New England REZ capacity to be unlocked | 6 GW |
| New England REZ transmission network | 290 km of 500 kV lines |
Planning reforms and community benefits
According to planning minister Paul Scully, time taken to assess renewable energy projects has been cut down by nearly 20% since 2023, with 50% more approvals being provided during the same period.
“Given that we have a lot of upcoming energy projects, there is a need for a planning system that would be capable of helping us achieve our energy objectives. We have already achieved a reduction of nearly 20% in time spent on assessing renewable energy projects while providing 50% more approvals since 2023,” Scully explained.
The new legislation will provide legal backing for the NSW Benefit-Sharing Guideline, thus ensuring that councils and communities hosting energy projects get the corresponding benefits.
More than AU$180 million (US$130 million) worth of benefits has been allocated to communities since the adoption of the guideline in November 2024, apart from REZ community and employment benefit funds administered by EnergyCo.
Moreover, the government is also working on reforms to enhance referral processes of projects to the Independent Planning Commission for determination with Scully pointing out that the changes would help ensure that people of NSW retain a powerful voice without causing delays to energy projects.
He added that the reforms would ensure that important projects were not delayed due to protests by individuals located thousands of miles away who were not affected by the projects.
This is one of the latest developments in NSW. In the past few months, work has begun on the Hunter-Central Coast REZ transmission project, which will link renewable energy generation in the Hunter region to demand centers.
EnergyCo has also applied for federal approvals for the New England REZ transmission network, which will unlock 6GW of renewable energy capacity by 2034 via 290km of 500kV transmission lines and five energy hubs in seven local government areas.
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