Blog: The renewables rollout needs legislated protections for landholders

Article by By Perrin Rennie, Young Nationals Policy Officer

With the rollout of renewable energy projects across Australia, many landholders and primary producers are receiving attractive offers to host these projects and their associated infrastructure. In the case of wind farms, landholders typically receive in excess of $40,000 per turbine per year, and up to $1,500 per hectare per year for solar panels.

These opportunities can include risks and liabilities, however. Clear and strong regulations should be put in place to ensure the ongoing resilience and sustainability of agricultural businesses in regional Australia. In particular, there needs to be a nationwide standard that clearly outlines some basic responsibilities for corporations who are in negotiations with landholders. This will give prospective partners in the renewable rollout transparency and accountability.

Under the current regulatory environment, farmers and landholders are at risk of being handed the financial responsibility to decommission wind turbines after they reach the end of their life. Such a process is likely to be complex and extremely costly, with many estimates placing the dollar figure between $400,000 and 600,000, significantly reducing any financial gain made by the landholder over a turbine’s lifespan.

Whilst most planning permits state the project owner is responsible for decommissioning costs, this may not be the case should the company become insolvent – leaving landholders with a complex and costly job of removing these assets. This may become an increasingly relevant issue over the long term if energy prices fall significantly and reduce revenue for these energy companies. It also provides an opportunity to avoid their obligations through fraudulent practices or the exploitation of loopholes, such as corporate ‘phoenixing’.

The government can prevent this from occurring by requiring these companies to pay an annual fee - calculated per turbine - into a nationwide fund that is dedicated to decommissioning renewable assets. This framework would give farmers peace of mind and hold energy companies accountable. Decommissioning/ clean-up bond schemes of this nature are already in place in other extractive industries and the renewables industry should be no different.

As an aside, implementing such a fund may also present an opportunity to partner with Universities and the CSIRO to conduct research into solutions for recycling turbine blades on an industry wide scale – research that energy companies may be unwilling to fund on their own.

Other concerns relate to access arrangements through productive land and the potential for accidental losses - particularly through spreading weeds to crops and allowing stock to escape through open gates. As such, energy companies should be required to abide by strict biosecurity standards and they should maintain access logs so they can be held accountable for any loss arising from negligence.

Finally, many crop farmers are concerned that transmission lines on productive land will reduce revenue and increase costs. This can occur in a variety of ways. Transmission lines can limit access to certain areas of farmland, making it more challenging to manoeuvre machinery and potentially reducing the usable land area. They can also complicate crop planting and management, especially if they obstruct certain field layouts. If a clear zone is required to prevent interference from trees, this may necessitate additional management efforts and costs through trimming or removing vegetation.

Energy companies must be required to provide just and adequate compensation to these landholders. If the Commonwealth decides that the project is essential for the grid, and is concerned such payments may threaten the project’s feasibility, it has the ability to help with the cost. Indeed, such schemes are not new. In 2022, the Coalition government in NSW introduced a policy to pay transmission line hosts $200,000 per kilometre over a 20-year period.

If the federal government sincerely seeks social licence for the renewable transition in regional Australia, it must ensure there are adequate protections for the families and businesses that make up our rural communities.

The Young Nationals presented this policy position at the Nationals’ 2025 Federal Council, and it was adopted without amendment.