The Victorian Government is setting new rules for how renewable energy developers engage with and create social value and economic benefits for communities, Traditional Owners and landholders.
The Government has released new draft Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines for renewable energy projects.
The guidelines set a higher standard for how developers engage with communities, Traditional Owners, and landholders, and will form part of the new Victorian Access Regime for the state’s transmission network.
The draft guidelines include 48 expectations that project developers will need to meet as a minimum.
The new expectations seek to address issues and concerns that have been raised about past experiences. Some of the expectations include:
- new guidance on decommissioning and remediation responsibilities;
- preventing contractual clauses from unfairly restricting landholders from discussing agreement terms with other community members;
- the need to respond to concerns and risks raised by nearby neighbours during project design and development;
- the need to consult with landholders and neighbours on insurance matters, and provide transparent information on perceived or potential implications and risks.
Once finalised, VicGrid will enforce the guidelines through the Victorian Access Regime and the procurement processes for transmission projects.
In addition to inviting feedback on the draft guidelines, VicGrid is consulting on two documents that set out details of the new access arrangements:
- The Access and Connections Consultation Paper, which gives an overview of how access will be managed inside and outside renewable energy zones, including transitional arrangements for projects under development;
- Draft Grid Impact Assessment Guidelines, which set out details of the assessment that will apply to projects outside renewable energy zones.
The new arrangements, known as the Victorian Access Regime, aim to encourage development in renewable energy zones and increase transparency about what projects must do to gain access.
To read the guidelines and provide feedback, visit engage.vic.gov.au/victorian-access-regime. Feedback is invited from landholders, communities, Traditional Owners, and industry. Submissions close 5 November.
