Battery Energy Storage Rok Solid
An expert at the coalface of brokering land deals for renewable projects is warning bureaucratic red tape is hampering Australia’s potential to be at the forefront of the green energy revolution with approvals taking as long as three years.
“States like New South Wales and Queensland have specific Renewable Energy Zones mapped out, yet there’s a bottleneck of projects taking years for a decision on approvals,” warned Daniel Moroko, Chief Executive and founder of Rok Solid, a first of its kind renewable energy land acquisition agency, working between landholders and big business to secure renewable energy storage projects.
“It takes two to three years for a project to proceed through negotiations between relevant government departments and developers of these projects, environmental approvals as well as public consultations,” said Mr Moroko.
“That’s too long and Australian farmers and landowners do not want to be in limbo waiting years for an approval. They want a deal done on their land fast so they can reap the benefits.
“NSW, which has the biggest electricity grid in the country, should be leading, not lagging behind, because big businesses just take their investments elsewhere,” he said.
“The 1.5 GW Yanco Delta wind farm was last year the first to be approved by the NSW government in almost three years.”
NSW has vowed to fast-track close to 50 new wind, solar and battery storage projects to bring the country’s most populous state into line with the other states, while Queensland has unveiled a roadmap for 12 Renewable Energy Zones, laying the framework to connect 22 gigawatts of new capacity to the grid.
“The latest energy report card shows renewables are now pushing 40 percent of the nation’s energy supply, but that accelerating momentum will slow if we don’t have enough projects built to continue to generate and store that energy,” Mr Moroko said.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has advised Australia will need to add at least 6 Gigawatts (GW) of utility scale generation to the National Electricity Market annually to meet the Federal Government’s target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030.
“There’s a whole-of-government approach with every state and territory having their own target timeline, even setting up renewable energy zones, but the problem is the time it’s taking to get Development Applications approved.”
“Governments at every level should be doing all they can to encourage more land to be freed up because without more land we can’t store the energy needed to power homes and businesses.”
“When a parcel of land is being offered up, the approval process needs to then also be speedy, because the investment for renewable storage is there, the issue is all of the hoops we are asking these businesses to jump through for projects the government itself has declared should be prioritised.
Last year saw Australia add approximately 2.8 GW from utility scale projects to the grid, well short of that target, with Queensland the most coal dependent in the country, with the lowest share of renewables (just 29 per cent) in the past year.
“If we want to deepen engagement and strengthen our ability to build energy storage projects, we need to make that process as streamlined as possible.
“Australia will fail in its race to reach its targets for fully decarbonised energy transition by 2050 unless more is done to untangle departmental procedures and reduce red tape.”
About Rok Solid
Rok Solid, a first of its kind renewable energy land acquisition agency connecting landholders with the companies wanting to lease or buy land for major projects.
It has secured land for more than 32 renewable projects brokered across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. Enabling the development of over 1GW of solar and 4GW of storage projects.
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www.nativeshop.com.au
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