The Australian Government is making it easier for energy project developers to invest in offshore wind by cutting financial burdens and red tape.
Temporarily reducing costs for the industry will allow investment in feasibility activities to progress projects and reduce the risk of developers exiting the market at a critical stage for offshore wind development in Australia.
Offshore wind projects would bring benefits to the community, such as:
- energy security
- regional development
- job creation.
For the next 2 years, we will seek to:
- waive annual levies applied to feasibility and research and demonstration licences
- halve annual levies applied to transmission and infrastructure licences
- reduce application fees for research and demonstration licences from $300,000 to $20,000
- reduce application fees for transmission and infrastructure licences from $300,000 to $150,000.
The Australian Government is developing regulations to implement the temporary relief. It is anticipated these regulations will be in place later this year. Once the regulations are made, the two-year relief to levies and fees can begin.
A review of the Cost Recovery Impact Statements is currently underway to ensure fees and levies are set at the right level in the longer term. The review is undertaken by:
- the department
- the Offshore infrastructure Regulator
- the Offshore Infrastructure Registrar.
We are also easing administrative workloads for licence holders with simpler financial and reporting requirements.
We are reducing the burden of annual reporting by ensuring that the level of detail to be provided reflects the nature and scale of the activities carried out under the licence.
To further minimise costs to industry, the requirement for licence holders to have funds in place for at least 150% of the estimated cost of their project activities for the next 12 months is being reduced.
Lower capital requirements under the new streamlined approach will also remove significant investment hurdles for offshore wind developers.
