To meet Tasmania’s fast-growing energy requirements our renewable vision commits to sustainably growing renewable energy generation to 200% by 2040, underpinned by the legislated Tasmanian Renewable Energy Target.

Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania (ReCFIT) is coordinating this growth, and central to this is defining the State’s first Renewable Energy Zone – a key action of the Renewable Energy Coordination Framework.

As part of the Tasmanian Government’s first 100 Day commitments under its 2030 Strong Plan, draft legislation has been developed and released for public consultation to support the establishment of renewable energy zones (REZ) in Tasmania.

The draft legislation provides another option for the development of renewables in the state. Renewable Energy Zones have the potential to coordinate the new generation we will need by the end of the decade with only the new transmission necessary to support it.

Under the draft legislation, the government will be able to declare suitable areas of Tasmania as renewable energy zones and a custom legislative framework will then apply, particularly with respect to how the critical transmission is built. The framework would include:

• Clear instruction on coordination and governance roles and responsibilities associated with the planning, delivery, maintenance and operation of a REZ.
• Deviation from some existing regulations in the National Electricity Law and National Electricity Rules to ensure REZ are designed for Tasmania. This would include facilitating long term planning to allow earlier development of transmission lines, simpler investment feasibility assessments and offer an alternative cost recovery model to share the cost of transmission infrastructure.
• A legislative framework that operates smoothly alongside existing laws and regulations.
• A flexible legislative framework that is designed to be adaptable for future REZ across Tasmania.
• A mechanism to declare a REZ and its physical boundaries, generation capacity and community benefit scheme.

The Minister for Energy and Renewables released draft legislation for public consultation on 19 July 2024 that will allow for the development of renewable energy zones in Tasmania.

The public consultation for the draft REZ legislation has closed. Feedback will be considered and incorporated into the final drafting of the legislation prior to it being introduced to parliament. For more information on the Bill, please go to the ReCFIT website.