Version incorporating amendments as at
27 March 2024
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
Part 1—Preliminary 1
1 Purposes 1
2 Commencement 1
3 Definitions 2
4 Declared renewable energy sources 2
5 Objects 3
6 Crown to be bound 3
Part 2—Renewable energy targets and capacity determinations 4
7 Renewable energy targets 4
7A Energy storage targets 4
7B Offshore wind energy targets 5
8 Minister to report to the Parliament annually on progress 6
9 Capacity determinations 7
Part 3—General 8
10 Regulations 8
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Endnotes 9
1 General information 9
2 Table of Amendments 11
3 Explanatory details 12
Version No.003
Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017
No. 56 of 2017
Version incorporating amendments as at
27 March 2024
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Purposes
The main purposes of this Act are—
(a) to establish renewable energy targets for Victoria; and
S. 1(ab) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 20.
(ab) to establish energy storage targets for Victoria; and
S. 1(ac) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 20.
(ac) to establish offshore wind energy targets for Victoria; and
(b) to support schemes to achieve targets under this Act and to encourage investment and employment in Victoria.
2 Commencement
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2) If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 June 2018, it comes into operation on that day.
3 Definitions
In this Act—
S. 3 def. of energy storage target inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 21.
energy storage target means an energy storage target set out in section 7A;
Section 1 - Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 - Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 | Zoe
large-scale facility means a generation facility that has a generation capacity of more than 100 kilowatts;
S. 3 def. of offshore areaof Victoria inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 21.
offshore areaof Victoria means the offshore area of Victoria as defined by section 8 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 of the Commonwealth;
S. 3 def. of offshore wind energy target inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 21.
offshore wind energy target means an offshore wind energy target set out in section 7B;
S. 3 def. of renewable energy source amended by No. 42/2019 s. 2A.
renewable energy source means any of the following energy sources—
(a) solar;
(b) wind;
(ba) hydro;
(c) an energy source declared by the Minister under section 4;
renewable energy target means a renewable energy target set out in section 7.
4 Declared renewable energy sources
The Minister, by notice published in the Government Gazette, may declare an energy source other than a prescribed source to be a renewable energy source for the purposes of this Act.
5 Objects
The objects of this Act are—
(a) to increase the proportion of Victoria's electricity generated by means of
large-scale facilities that utilise renewable energy sources or convert renewable energy sources into electricity; and
S. 5(b) amended by No. 9/2024 s. 22(1).
(b) to contribute to achieving the renewable energy targets, energy storage targets and offshore wind energy targets; and
S. 5(c) amended by No. 9/2024 s. 22(2).
(c) to support the development of projects and initiatives to encourage investment, employment and technology development in Victoria in relation to renewable electricity generation, energy storage and electricity generation in the offshore area of Victoria; and
(d) to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria and to achieve associated environmental and social benefits; and
(e) to promote the transition of Victoria to a clean energy economy; and
(f) to contribute to the security of electricity supply in Victoria.
6 Crown to be bound
This Act binds the Crown, not only in right of Victoria but also, so far as the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
Part 2—Renewable energy targets and capacity determinations
7 Renewable energy targets
The renewable energy targets are—
(a) by 2020, for 25% of electricity generated in Victoria to be generated by means of facilities that generate electricity by utilising renewable energy sources or converting renewable energy sources into electricity; and
S. 7(b) amended by No. 42/2019 s. 3(1).
(b) by 2025, for 40% of electricity generated in Victoria to be generated by means of facilities that generate electricity by utilising renewable energy sources or converting renewable energy sources into electricity; and
S. 7(c) inserted by No. 42/2019 s. 3(2), amended by No. 9/2024 s. 23(1).
(c) by 2030, for 65% of electricity generated in Victoria to be generated by means of facilities that generate electricity by utilising renewable energy sources or converting renewable energy sources into electricity; and
S. 7(d) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 23(2).
(d) by 2035, for 95% of electricity generated in Victoria to be generated by means of facilities that generate electricity by utilising renewable energy sources or converting renewable energy sources into electricity.
S. 7A inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 24.
7A Energy storage targets
(1) The energy storage targets are—
(a) by 2030, for energy storage facilities in Victoria to have the combined capacity to store and dispatch at least 2∙6 gigawatts of electricity at any time; and
(b) by 2035, for energy storage facilities in Victoria to have the combined capacity to store and dispatch at least 6∙3 gigawatts of electricity at any time.
(2) The Minister, by notice published in the Government Gazette, may declare a facility not to be an energy storage facility for the purposes of this section.
(3) In this section—
energy storage facility means a facility (other than a facility declared not to be an energy storage facility under subsection (2)) connected to a distribution system or transmission system that has the capacity to store and dispatch electricity.
S. 7B inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 24.
7B Offshore wind energy targets
The offshore wind energy targets are—
(a) by 2032, Victoria is to have the capacity to generate not less than 2 gigawatts of electricity in the offshore area of Victoria by converting wind energy into electricity; and
(b) by 2035, Victoria is to have the capacity to generate not less than 4 gigawatts of electricity in the offshore area of Victoria by converting wind energy into electricity; and
(c) by 2040, Victoria is to have the capacity to generate not less than 9 gigawatts of electricity in the offshore area of Victoria by converting wind energy into electricity.
8 Minister to report to the Parliament annually on progress
(1) The Minister must report to the Parliament for each financial year on—
(a) the progress made towards meeting the renewable energy targets; and
(b) the performance of schemes to achieve targets under this Act that promote the generation of electricity by large-scale facilities that utilise renewable energy sources or convert renewable energy sources into electricity; and
S. 8(1)(c) amended by No. 9/2024 s. 25(1).
(c) investment and employment in Victoria in relation to renewable electricity generation; and
S. 8(1)(d) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 25(2).
(d) the progress made towards meeting the energy storage targets; and
S. 8(1)(e) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 25(2).
(e) the performance of schemes to achieve the energy storage targets; and
S. 8(1)(f) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 25(2).
(f) investment and employment in Victoria in relation to the storage of energy for the purposes of conversion into electricity; and
S. 8(1)(g) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 25(2).
(g) the progress made towards meeting the offshore wind energy targets; and
S. 8(1)(h) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 25(2).
(h) the performance of schemes to achieve the offshore wind energy targets; and
S. 8(1)(i) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 25(2).
(i) investment and employment in Victoria in relation to the generation of electricity in the offshore area of Victoria by converting wind energy into electricity.
(2) The report must be in writing and contain the information determined by the Minister.
(3) The Minister must cause the report for the financial year to be laid before each House of the Parliament on or before 31 October in the subsequent financial year or, if a House is not then sitting, on the first sitting day of that House after 31 October.
9 Capacity determinations
The Minister, by notice published in the Government Gazette, must determine the minimum amounts of renewable energy generation capacity required to meet the targets under this Act for the purposes of contributing to the achievement of—
(a) the renewable energy target for 2020—by 31 December 2017; and
S. 9(b) amended by No. 42/2019 s. 4(1).
(b) the renewable energy target for 2025—by 31 December 2019; and
S. 9(c) inserted by No. 42/2019 s. 4(2), amended by No. 9/2024 s. 26(a).
(c) the renewable energy target for 2030—by 31 December 2025; and
S. 9(d) inserted by No. 9/2024 s. 26(b).
(d) the renewable energy target for 2035—by 31 December 2030.
Part 3—General
10 Regulations
(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for or with respect to any matter required or permitted to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed to give effect to this Act.
(2) Regulations made under this section may—
(a) be of general or limited application; and
(b) differ according to differences in time, place or circumstance.
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Endnotes
1 General information
See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 24 August 2017
Legislative Council: 21 September 2017
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to establish renewable energy targets for Victoria, to support schemes to achieve targets under the Act and for other purposes."
The Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 was assented to on 8 November 2017 and came into operation on 15 December 2017: Special Gazette (No. 433) 12 December 2017 page 2.
INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)
Style changes
Section 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.
References to ILA s. 39B
Sidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided section or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subsections or subclauses, the original section or clause becomes subsection or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression "(1)" at the beginning of the original section or clause.
Interpretation
As from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:
• Headings
All headings included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any heading inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. This includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; sections; clauses; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms. See section 36(1A)(2A).
• Examples, diagrams or notes
All examples, diagrams or notes included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Act. See section 36(3A).
• Punctuation
All punctuation included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 forms part of that Act. Any punctuation inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. See section 36(3B).
• Provision numbers
All provision numbers included in an Act form part of that Act, whether inserted in the Act before, on or after 1 January 2001. Provision numbers include section numbers, subsection numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).
• Location of "legislative items"
A "legislative item" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of an Act is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.
• Other material
Any explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of an Act.
See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).
2 Table of Amendments
This publication incorporates amendments made to the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 by Acts and subordinate instruments.