Who Won the U.S. Presidential Debate?

The race is on to transition to clean energy. Solar and wind farm developers are inundating regional communities in the hope they will host generation and transmission infrastructure. This extra capacity is needed to achieve the federal government target of 82% renewables in Australia by 2030.

The Clean Energy Council has estimated the capacity needed to come on line between 2026 and 2030 to hit this target. It equates to 5,400 megawatts (MW) of wind, 1,500MW of commercial solar farms and 3,600MW of rooftop solar each year.

The scale of this challenge is staggering. It amounts to an annual 240% expansion in added capacity compared to the past three years.

So how do developers entice communities to accept these projects? They typically offer payments to landholders. Community development funds are also popular, with developers helping to fund local needs such as housing and community services.

But these approaches have been inconsistent and lacking in transparency. Developers have been accused of acting opportunistically. There has been confusion and sometimes conflict between neighbors in regional communities.

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