The Government will progress a series of reforms to make it easier and cheaper to consent, build and maintain renewable electricity generation as well as electricity distribution and transmission, say RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Energy Minister Simeon Brown.

“New Zealand has an exciting future powered by clean and green renewable electricity, buttressed by fossil fuels. Through electrification, we can supercharge our economy, tackle climate change, and strengthen our energy security,” says Brown.

“Electrifying New Zealand’s economy is a key part of the Government’s plan to grow our economy and reduce emissions to achieve Net Zero 2050.

“The government’s Electrify NZ plan means taking advantage of New Zealand’s abundant renewable energy resources, so that our cars, buses, trains, ferries, and manufacturers are increasingly powered by wind, water, and the sun.”

“If we’re to achieve our ambitious goals for boosting our economy and reducing emissions, we must make fundamental changes to our planning and regulatory settings,” says Bishop.

“New Zealand needs billions of dollars of investment in the coming years in renewable energy supply, transmission and distribution, but it simply costs too much and takes too much time to consent major infrastructure, including energy projects, in New Zealand.

“A 2022 study for the Infrastructure Commission by Sapere found that New Zealand infrastructure developers collectively spend $1.29 billion each year getting their projects consented and the cost of consenting has increased by 70 per cent since 2014.

“Over 40 per cent of our current renewable generation requires reconsenting in the next 10 years, and total demand on NZ’s consenting system is expected to increase by over 40 percent by 2050.

“Put simply, we haven’t got a hope of improving energy security or achieving our climate goals with our current planning system.

“To give a practical example of how the RMA currently operates, in 2003 the Te Apiti windfarm site took 77 days to consent and had 20 conditions attached to that consent. In contrast, the Mill Creek windfarm site, completed in 2014, took 1,437 days, and had 90 conditions attached. This is unacceptable if we want to take renewables seriously.

“Even renewing consents for existing renewable power assets takes far too long. Hearings and appeals to reconsent the Clyde and Roxburgh dams, and Wairakei, ran from 2001 to 2007. It took 18 years to re-consent the Raetihi hydro dam - and when that consent was finally renewed, the number of consent conditions had increased from 4 to 136.

“Paperwork has taken priority over prosperity in New Zealand, and the government is taking action.”

The Government’s Electrify NZ plan involves:
1.       Establishing a one-stop-shop fast track approvals and permitting regime

The Fast-track Approvals Bill is currently before the Environment Select Committee and is expected to become law before the end of the year. Once law, the one-stop-shop regime will provide a pathway for major renewable energy and transmission projects to be consented sooner and more efficiently.

Nearly one in five projects that have been applied to be listed in the Fast Track Approvals Bill are renewable energy projects, indicating a strong level of interest.

2.       Amendments to the RMA to speed up resource consenting

The government has agreed to legislate to reduce consent and re-consenting processing time for most renewable energy consents to be within 1 year, as well as extending the default lapse periods for renewable energy, transmission and local electricity lines consents from 5 years to 10 years.

We also intend to increase the default consent duration to 35 years for renewable energy consents.

These changes will be advanced through the government’s second Resource Management Amendment Bill, to be introduced later in the year as part of the RMA Reform Phase Two.

3.       Stronger national direction for renewable energy

The government is progressing changes to make it easier for national direction instruments under the RMA to be amended (through the first Resource Management Amendment Bill, currently before select committee). Once passed into law, the government will:

• Amend the National Policy Statements for Renewable Electricity Generation and Electricity Transmission so they are far more directive and enabling of renewable electricity and transmission.
• Develop further national direction to help enable a range of energy and infrastructure projects – including a new NPS-Infrastructure, and subsequent standards for different types of energy generation and infrastructure

4.       A new regime for offshore wind

The Government will introduce a Bill to enable a regime for offshore renewable energy to be in place by mid-2025 with the aim of opening a first feasibility permit round in late 2025. This regime will give developers greater confidence and certainty to invest and will enable the selection of developments that will deliver the most benefit for New Zealand. We are releasing decisions on the design of the regime today.

5.       Updated regulatory settings for electricity networks and new connections

A range of work is underway by the Commerce Commission and the Electricity Authority to update a variety of regulatory settings so that New Zealand’s system can cope with the economy-wide shift to electrification – including supporting the Government’s goal to supercharge EV infrastructure.