A release area is an area of pastoral land, certain Crown land and state waters that the Minister responsible for the HRE Act has declared for renewable energy development.
Release areas involve government working with Native Title groups, pastoralists and other landowners, representative organisations, communities, and interest groups to identify areas of land that can sustainably host large-scale renewable energy development.
Under this framework, renewable energy activities on designated land will only occur where the Minister has declared a release area. Once declared, release areas will be allocated through a competitive tender process, ensuring only the best projects and proponents are awarded the exclusive access to develop large-scale projects.
The release area pathway has been included to ensure development on designated land is strategic, sustainable, supportive of regional development objectives, and is the best use of the land, while co-existing with existing land uses.
Release area strategy
Statewide consideration
Considered planning drives where and when South Australia declares release areas. This process to date has involved:
- Multi-criteria analysis and high-level mapping conducted by the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) identifying areas of the state where high quality wind and solar resources coincide, along with existing critical infrastructure such as transmission lines, water, gas pipelines and roads.
- Identifying current land uses (such as primary industries, resources, tourism and conservation), industry interest, and existing constraints (including Aboriginal heritage and protected areas).
Collectively, this enabled the development of a statewide resource and constraints model, with a focus on terrestrial areas.
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The Department for Energy and Mining has identified the Upper Eyre Peninsula as the ideal location for the first onshore release areas under the HRE Act, with work underway to finalise the first proposed release areas for consultation.
Further work is still required to determine a pipeline of releases. This work will be on-going having regard to industry interest and government economic priorities.
Release area declaration process
Declaring a release area involves the following steps.
Public notice and consultation
Before declaring a release area, it is a requirement of the HRE Act that the Minister consults on a proposed release area. This consultation determines if an area can support large-scale renewable energy development, and the terms and conditions that should be applied to ensure development occurs sustainably with least impact.
DEM will seek comments from Native Title groups, pastoralists, and other landowners, communities, industry, key stakeholder groups, relevant government agencies.
Following a minimum 30 business day consultation period, any feedback will be considered in finalising release area boundaries.
Declaration
Following consultation, the Minister for the HRE Act will consider the feedback, and with the agreement of either the Minister for the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989 (on pastoral land) or the Minister for the Harbors and Navigation Act 1993 (in state waters), will make a decision regarding the declaration of a release area.
Current release areas
There are currently no declared release areas.
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Call for tenders
The declaration of a release area enables the Minister to open a call for tenders. This process is initiated by notice in the Government Gazette.
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