2 December The states boost the energy and resources sector December 2, 2020 By Sally Parker General, Industry, Resources and Energy Industry, Energy, Resources 0 This year will be remembered for the many challenges that it brought to both individuals and industry. As Australia starts to return to some normality, many states are looking to boost industry, increase jobs and innovate for the future. In this article, we look at various state initiatives designed to boost the energy and resources sector. Victoria One of the hardest hit regions of Australia, with lockdown restrictions now easing in Victoria activity is ramping up. Solar Victoria has advised that they’re now working through the backlog of approximately 15,000 approved installations which stalled during the extended lockdown period. Victoria will build one of the world’s largest lithium-ion batteries near Moorabool Terminal Station. The 300MW battery will cost $84 million and should be complete by the end of next year. The battery will ensure grid stability by providing an automatic response if there is an unexpected network outage. It is part of an effort to reduce electricity prices and will help the state achieve its objective of 50% renewable energy by 2030. In addition, it is expected to generate over 80 jobs in the Geelong region. More minerals licence applications are also to be processed in Victoria, with $1.1 million allocated to additional staff to process them. There are currently more than 350 live applications for new minerals licences, renewals, transfers and variations. These licenses are anticipated for mining gold and other in-demand minerals, so that industry can continue its record-breaking level of mineral exploration. In the June quarter, Victoria recorded the highest quarterly mineral exploration spend in the state’s history. New South Wales The NSW government recently released its Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. It sets out a plan to invest $32 billion in the sector, creating 12 GW of renewable energy capacity in the Central-West Orana, New England and South West Renewable Energy Zones. It also sets out plans for 3GW of new firm capacity by 2030. As a result, it is estimated to reduce the average household electricity bill by $130 a year, and $430 a year for businesses between 2023 and 2040. The industry also expects to support over 9,000 jobs in regional NSW and will deliver 90 million tonnes of reduced carbon emissions by 2030. While international travel is off the cards, NSW continues to look for investment and growth overseas. They recently announced that a stand-alone NSW Trade and Investment office would be opened in Tokyo to grow the state’s presence in Japan. This is the first of six international hubs that will focus on export and investment opportunities. Future hubs are expected to focus on opportunities in the UK, Europe, Israel, Greater China, the Americas, the Middle East and India. South Australia The South Australian government launched its energy and mining strategy recently. This includes a range of initiatives focused on energy storage, hydrogen trade, carbon capture, utilisation and storage. The government’s goals are ambitious and include increasing energy exports by $13 billion by 2030, generating hydrogen exports of over $1.7billion, being internationally competitive by 2030 and achieving net 100% renewable generation by 2040. The strategy is expected to add up to 30,000 jobs to the South Australian economy. South Australia will also construct a 280MW solar farm near Whyalla and 100MW near Port Augusta. This $600million investment will create up to 810 jobs and improve the security and reliability of the grid. The South Australian government has also focused on energy efficiency announcing $60 million spend on government buildings and a further $18.3 million to transitioning government vehicles to electric transmission. An additional $18 million will increase the state’s home batter subsidy scheme to 440 megawatt hours of storage. This is expected to result in reduced electricity prices. Looking towards export opportunities, the state also announced $37 million to upgrade the Port Bonython jetty. This is expected to increase export opportunities for green hydrogen to key markets across Asia. Western Australia Western Australia released its first Whole of System Plan, which looks at the 20 year outlook for the state’s electricity network. It reveals that renewable generation is expected to triple in 2040 and that rooftop solar will continue to displace traditional forms of generation. Battery storage will also increase in importance and play a role in stabilising the system and unlocking new markets. The Western Australia Planning Commission has also recently approved a $50 million LNG plant in Mount Magnet. The plant has been fast-tracked and is expected to be operational by mid-2021. It will create over 50 jobs during its construction and 30 ongoing jobs. The Pilbara will also see a transformation in the next decade, with the first stage of the Asian Renewable Energy Hub approved in the region. A large wind and solar project, it will produce up to 26 GW in the future, but construction isn’t expected to commence until 2026. Related Articles POWERING CONSUMER PROTECTIONS: WHY DECENTRALISED AND DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES WARRANT A NEW LENS ON CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Recent years have seen distributed energy resources usher in a new era of self-generation and reduced reliance on traditional centralised energy networks. Australian customers are increasingly enabled to access unconventional “behind the meter” energy sources and contribute to a two-way flow of energy back to the grid. COMMUNITY LEGAL RIGHTS IN MINE CLOSURE PLANNING; A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THREE AUSTRALIAN STATES Professor Alex Gardner, University of Western Australia Law School, and Laura Hamblin, formerly research associate at the UWA Law School, 2021 Why does the Mining Act 1978 (WA) not provide secure legal rights for community consultation in relation to mining lease proposals and mine closure plans? Addressing this question presents an important theme for this comparative review of some core features of the regulatory frameworks for mine closure in three Australian States. It also raises important questions for future legal research. Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria have prominent but vastly different, and thus uniquely significant, mining industries. Western Australia’s mining industry has a long history of large and smaller scale mining of a diverse range of minerals by various methods that pose significant mine rehabilitation challenges.[i] Queensland’s mining industry is similarly large and diverse, dominated by export coal production, and planning future minerals development in a decarbonising world.[ii] Victoria has a smaller mining industry with a large historical legacy dominated by a coal mining industry for domestic electricity generation in the Latrobe Valley, which is closing as the State actively transitions to renewable power sources.[iii] These States also have significant differences in the regulation of their mining industries. What all three States do have in common is the significance of their mining industries to both the State economy and the communities who depend on or live near mining operations. Importantly, all three States are confronting large legal and regulatory challenges in managing mine rehabilitation and closure. The key to addressing these challenges is effective mine closure planning: the closure of a mine site has ripple effects that are not merely environmental and economic, but social and cultural too. The initial approval of a mine closure plan occurs before any mining has begun and, with the life cycle of a mine often spanning decades, regulatory bodies are approving hypothetical closure scenarios, potentially subject to vast changes. Regulatory bodies may then seek to enforce closure requirements enshrined in a plan that may wane in relevance as mining operations progress, the updating of which may depend on the miner. Yet remedying the regulatory system so that it creates adaptable but consistently effective mine closure outcomes for affected communities still begins at planning. Although that planning is an iterative process across the life of the mine, it is very important at the initial stage of approval. Recent legislative reforms in all three States are adding to the regulatory rigour and adaptability of mine closure planning, though there are very different legal requirements for community consultation. This article aims to explain and assess the regulatory reforms by undertaking a comparative analysis of mine closure planning across Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria, with a focus on the initial approval stage and how stakeholders and communities are brought into that process. The facilitation of continuous and comprehensive community engagement is critical to ensuring that mine closure planning accounts for environmental, economic, social, cultural and safety outcomes after mine closure, but it has not been possible to consider here the process of ongoing mine closure planning, especially for amending mine closure plans and determining satisfaction of mine closure plans leading to resource tenure relinquishment.[iv] The article begins by considering core concepts of mine closure planning and the regulatory goals that inform it. It then provides a comparative overview of each State’s mine closure planning requirements under the mineral resources, environmental and land use planning laws and draws out some of the different regulatory structures and processes for mine closure within each State. The third step in our analysis compares the ways in which those laws provide for local communities’ participation in mine closure planning, with specific attention to whether the regulatory provisions create legally enforceable rights for effective community engagement. The article concludes with a summary of the key points from the discussion of three themes in our analysis: (i) the importance of clear definitions of core concepts and key goals, (ii) mine closure planning as an essential part of a mining proposal, and (iii) the legal definition of community engagement and consultation rights. Mine closure planning and implementation is necessarily influenced by many other spheres of law including taxation law, investment law, water law, and the rights of traditional owners, to name a few. A potentially directly relevant Commonwealth law is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), which may require environmental impact assessment of a mining proposal and closure plan and lead to approval conditions supplementing State requirements.[v] Whilst acknowledging the importance of these adjacent spheres of the regulatory frameworks for effective mine closure planning, this article does not attempt to address their impact. In particular, the rights of Traditional Custodians are a crucial part of mine closure planning that are only briefly noted here and that would benefit from future research. WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Major Commodities Review 2022-23”. Qld Government, Department of Resources, Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan, June 022. Vic Government, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy. See L Hamblin, A Gardner, Y Haigh, Mapping the Regulatory Framework of Mine Closure, May 2022, CRC TiME, for a broader exploration of the full life cycle of mine closure regulation. In Buzzacott v Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities [2013] FCAFC 111; (2013) 214 FCR 301, [144], [227]-[230], referring to the range of approval conditions, which included mine closure. In setting conditions under the EPBC Act, the Commonwealth Minister must consider any relevant conditions under State or Territory law: at [80] citing Lansen v Minister for Environment and Heritage (2008) 174 FCR 14. Changes to the Fair Work Act may benefit the energy and resources sector The energy and resources sector is a significant contributor to the economy, and its impact is estimated to continue to grow over the next decade. The Australian Resources and Energy Group (AMMA) estimates that the sector will add over 24,000 new workers by 2026 to support 98 new and expansion projects worth over $83 billion. The roles available could double depending not the construction and flow-on work required. Western Australia and Queensland are expected to benefit the most from these initiatives. Overview of the Government’s Resources and Energy Report The Department of Industry, Science and Resources recently published its quarterly report on Resources and Energy. The report includes forecasts from the Office of the Chief Economist on the value, volume and price of major Australian resources and energy commodity exports. How foreign investment changes may impact the mining and energy sector In early June 2020, the government announced a review of the foreign investment rules, expanding them to apply to all foreign investors in anything deemed a ‘sensitive national security business’. The changes are scheduled to come into effect on 1 January 2021. There are concerns that this will impact foreign investment in the mining and energy sectors, and in particular the critical minerals space. The impact of coronavirus on the energy and resources industry The last few weeks have seen the world face an unprecedented disruption with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). First reported in China, we’re now seeing many countries shutting down for periods of time to try to contain the spread of the virus. Australia is facing a particularly difficult year given the bushfires that ravaged the country recently. Now with COVID-19 adding to the pain, the energy and resources industry is being impacted in several ways outlined below. Showing 0 Comment Comments are closed.