As Australia undergoes the shift to renewables, rural and regional communities are demonstrating new ways of securing a good deal from large-scale solar, wind and battery projects.
This is the conclusion of a new report – Striking a New Deal for Renewables in Regions – authored by the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal (FRRR) and Projects JSA, as part of the Striking a New Deal collaboration. It comes ahead of a first-of-its-kind national gathering of local government and regional development leaders at a Summit hosted by RE-Alliance in Newcastle.
The report draws on insights from leaders in regions with significant renewable energy investments around Australia and outlines the common risks and opportunities facing their communities.
While the majority of Australians living in regional communities generally support the nation’s shift to renewable energy according to studies from CSIRO, FCA, and Porter Novelli, the report clearly shows that the first phase of this change has been challenging.
Leaders have been grappling with significant uncertainty about what will actually be built and when; the local risks and opportunities of these developments for their economy, environment and community; and limited local agency to influence the development process.
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With the need to replace aging coal-fired power stations, state and federal governments have so far been ‘building the plane while flying it’. However, with clearer policies and more projects reaching the approval stage, solutions to common issues have emerged, creating more opportunities for regions to achieve meaningful and lasting benefits from investments.
Sarah Matthee, Climate Solutions Portfolio Lead at FRRR, noted, “Communities simply want a good deal in return for hosting this new energy infrastructure. They want certainty, more clarity on the opportunities and risks of these projects, more resourcing and more agency in the decisions being made that will impact their regions for decades to come.”
Lead author, Jack Archer, added, “Development at this scale will never be universally popular, but if locals can see they have been heard and clearly understand how their community will benefit, there can be enduring support for the energy shift in regions across Australia.”
The report recommends government and industry collaborate to produce risk and opportunity accounts, to act as living ledgers, to make the terms of the local deal clearer. Currently information is fragmented and buried in planning documents, and with misinformation on social media and in local networks, it’s difficult for locals to understand what’s going to happen, if they will be better off and what issues need further work as development progresses.
The report also recommends combining the transparency of these new accounts with upgrades to community services and housing, ongoing input from local leaders in the development process and genuine security that benefits will be delivered.
“This set of actions is the key to unlocking the local social licence governments and industry are seeking. It’s a practical approach that can be implemented quickly and it will change the game,” Jack Archer said.
