The State Planning Commission has today released a Renewable Energy Discussion Paper about proposed changes to renewable energy policy in the Planning and Design Code. The discussion paper proposes new planning policies for South Australia’s renewable energy sector, ahead of public consultation on the Planning and Design Code later this year.
Read the Renewable Energy Discussion Paper
The Commission’s discussion paper proposes to update existing planning policies to ensure they keep pace with the rapidly changing technology that underpins renewable energy generation.
Due to technological improvements and less-costly infrastructure, large-scale renewable energy, dominated by wind generation in the past, is now turning to a wider range of energy options including large-scale solar developments, pumped-hydro and battery storage projects. Beyond these more familiar renewable energies, a range of emerging technologies including geo-thermal, hydrogen and biofuels are also being explored.
Given these changes, South Australia’s planning policy needs to be strengthened and updated to provide improved guidance for individual on-site renewable energy generation, as well as improved pathways for planning approval. These new and updated policies are being proposed under the biggest modernisation of South Australia’s planning system in more than 20 years.
The proposed policies are included in the draft Planning and Design Code which is the cornerstone of South Australia’s new planning and development system, replacing the 72 Development Plans that are currently in use across the state. Formal public consultation on the draft Code, including the Commission’s proposed renewable energy policies, is now open until 28 February 2020.