The Australian government is committed to improving the way renewable energy developers engage with local communities.
This new scheme will improve industry standards. It will also provide local communities with greater transparency about companies that propose new energy infrastructure in their area.
This will encourage best practice and position reputable developers to be selected for new projects.
The developer rating scheme will assess the business performance and capability of participating developers. It will use objective measures to assess the participant’s track record and capabilities in developing renewable energy infrastructure, including their community engagement.
The scheme is being developed with input from key stakeholder groups including:
- an existing landholder panel
- local government
- community organisations
- industry bodies
Registrations of interest are invited from:
- Developers of renewable energy infrastructure with experience in developing large scale solar, or onshore wind projects, transmission lines, large scale batteries or pumped hydro
- Small, medium and large companies operating in Australia
For the purposes of this Registration of Interest a renewable energy developer includes companies that are proponents, owners and/or operators of large-scale renewable energy projects, or are responsible for carrying out the development of a renewable energy project, including engaging subcontractors involved in the development of the project.
The developer rating scheme was a key recommendation of the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner’s 2024 Community Engagement Review.
Developers of renewable energy infrastructure and transmission lines are invited to participate in the development of the new scheme through a design panel and testing program. Companies interested in participating can find out more information and submit a registration of interest.
The consultation closes on 4 April 2025.
About the rating scheme
The proposed scheme will be operated by a suitably qualified and experienced independent organisation. A selection process is underway to identify and appoint such an organisation as a design partner and operator of the scheme.
The scheme will be voluntary. The independent operator will undertake transparent assessments of participating developers’ performance, track record, and capability including their community engagement performance and capability using objective measures. Periodic assessments are expected to occur, and the names of companies who receive positive assessments to be published and publicly accessible on a website.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.