Joint Statement - Labor's planning delays hit renewable energy projects

Joint Statement – Labor’s planning delays hit renewable energy projects

John Pesutto, Leader of the Opposition

James Newbury, Shadow Minister for Planning

7 January 2024.

New analysis of Victorian planning documents shows that the Minister for planning has delayed almost a dozen renewable energy projects, which are gathering dust in the Minister’s office.

A total of 11 solar, wind, battery and alternative energy projects from across Victoria have sat with the Minister for Planning for longer than 6 months, including;

• Up to 450MWh of battery storage.
• Up to 1,073MW of solar energy generation.
• Up to 1,629MW of wind energy generation.
• Up to 76.7MW of alternative (bio-mass) energy generation.

Together, these projects represent 3,228MW of renewable energy – more than 70 per cent of the additional power promised to be delivered by the SEC.

The longest delayed project, the Mt Fyans Wind Farm, has now been sitting with the Minister for Planning for an extraordinary five years – a brief that has seen three Planning Ministers across that half decade.

Leader of the Opposition, John Pesutto, said: “Victorians deserve a planning system they can have confidence in and one that delivers fair and consistent outcomes.

“Renewable energy is critical to Victoria’s future and Labor’s failure to assess these projects in a timely manner is contributing to greater uncertainty and higher energy prices.

Shadow Minister for Planning, James Newbury, said: “The Minister for Planning is utterly hopeless. The Minister isn’t doing her job and as a result much needed renewable energy projects are being delayed. Those delays cost every Victorian in higher energy costs.

“Under Labor, local communities are being cut out of planning decisions whilst projects across the State continued to be delayed and managed without proper transparency.”

James Newbury, Shadow Minister for Planning

John Pesutto, Leader of the Opposition