New Zealand’s New Planning System to Boost Renewable Energy Projects and Growth

New Zealand’s new planning system will accelerate renewable energy projects and unlock the country’s clean energy potential, Energy Minister Simon Watts says.

Mr Watts says New Zealand has some of the best renewable energy resources in the world, but the current planning system has made it far too slow and costly to build the generation and infrastructure the country needs.

Energy powers every part of our economy, from households to high-value industries. It determines our ability to grow, compete, and remain prosperous. Yet despite our abundant renewable resources, it has become too difficult to consent the wind farms, solar farms, hydro schemes and geothermal projects New Zealand needs, Mr Watts says.

Under the Resource Management Act 1991, consenting major infrastructure has become slow, expensive and unpredictable.

A 2022 study for the Infrastructure Commission by Sapere found that developers collectively spend $1.29 billion each year getting projects consented, and consenting costs have risen 70 per cent since 2014. Paperwork has taken priority over progress.

That is why our Government is replacing the RMA with two new bills: a Planning Bill to enable development and regulate land use, and a Natural Environment Bill to manage resource impacts and protect nature. These reforms will cut red tape, reduce delays, and give investors the certainty they need to get projects underway.

Mr Watts says the new planning system will make it easier and cheaper to consent, build and maintain renewable electricity generation, as well as the distribution and transmission infrastructure required to support it.

New Zealand is now on the cusp of a renewable electricity boom because of the work this Government is doing to remove barriers to growth and investment. More electricity generation has been commissioned in the past 18 months than in the entirety of the last 15 years. In the future, 95 percent of our electricity will come from cheap, clean renewables, he says.

Under the new system, national policy direction and standards will be developed for renewable energy. We have already started this work. We are comprehensively amending the National Policy Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation and the National Policy Statement for Electricity Networks under the RMA. The new national instruments on renewable energy will build on these revised policy statements and more enabling provisions will also be developed under these bills. This will give decision-makers absolute clarity about the vital importance of renewable energy to New Zealand’s future.

Mr Watts says streamlined approvals will also make a significant difference.

We’ve already made improvements to the RMA to provide more certainty for energy operators, including longer duration consents. We are building on this momentum and many of these provisions will be carried over to the new system.

He says the Government’s Electrify New Zealand programme will further supercharge the sector.

Electrify New Zealand includes a wide range of actions to support faster and cheaper consenting of energy infrastructure. It will mean more wind, more solar, more batteries, more storage and more clean generation powering our homes and businesses every year.

The bills will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon. The Government aims to pass them into law in 2026.

National policy direction under the new system will be finalised within nine months of the bills becoming law. Mandatory national standards will be delivered in stages and aligned with council plan-making needs.

New Zealanders will be invited to have their say on the legislation via the Select Committee process.

Note to editors: More information about the new planning system can be found here: https://environment.govt.nz/news/government-unveils-major-overhaul-of-new-zealands-planning-system