Planning approvals

Planning approvals

The Central-West Orana REZ transmission project has now secured Commonwealth planning approval. This achievement moves the project into the delivery phase and is a significant step forward in Australia’s renewable energy future.  

View the documents submitted for planning review and approval below or visit the NSW Planning Portal. 

Environmental assessment and planning approvals

All projects in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) will go through an extensive planning and environmental approval process.

The REZ transmission network infrastructure has been declared a Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) project by the Minister for Planning as it is considered 'essential for the State for economic, environmental or social reasons'.

Under the NSW Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979, all CSSI applications are required to go through a comprehensive assessment process with extensive community involvement. 

EnergyCo exhibited the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the REZ network infrastructure in September 2023. All submissions received are publicly available in the Submissions Report below. 

Developers will be responsible for lodging their own development applications and preparing an EIS for each wind and solar development. The timetable for environmental assessments of proposed wind and solar farms will be determined by the developers.