National Renewable Energy Priority List
The Commonwealth Government released the National Renewable Energy Priority List in collaboration with states and territories to provide coordinated support for regulatory planning and environmental approvals for key renewable energy projects across Australia. The inaugural list identifies 56 priority projects, including 24 transmission projects and 32 generation and storage projects. If approved through Commonwealth, state and territory processes, these projects could deliver an additional 16 GW of generation capacity and approximately 6 GW of storage capacity nationwide. No offshore projects are included in the inaugural list of priorities, which focuses essentially on onshore wind and solar generation.
Commonwealth Renewable & Clean Energy Policies
The 2024–25 Federal Budget added $7.1 billion to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for pre-commercial innovation. However, none of the current ARENA projects are exclusively focused on ocean energy. The overall emphasis remains on net-zero initiatives like hydrogen, solar, wind, and the Powering Australia Plan. Other funding and focused initiatives specifically related to ocean energy remained limited to ARC-funded projects, and the following key developments:
Sustainable Ocean Plan
Following the release of the draft Australian Sustainable Ocean Plan, public consultation began in August 2024. Throughout 2025, the Com monwealth Government reviewed feedback and worked toward securing endorsement from Australian, state, and territory governments. As of January 2026, the final version of the Australian Sustainable Ocean Plan has not been released yet.
Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act
The Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 sets the rules for developing and operating offshore energy projects and transmission links. In 2025, the government continued consulting on ways to make financial security requirements more flexible, improve data sharing, and allow public input on management plans for commercial projects. On 14 November 2025, regulatory changes introduced temporary relief from fees and levies under the cost recovery framework for up to two years. The updated regulations waive annual levies for feasibility and research licences, halve levies for transmission and infrastructure licences, and cut application fees from $300,000 to $20,000 for research licences and to $150,000 for transmission licences. Draft guidelines for research and demonstration licences were also opened for comment between August and October 2025, and feedback is now under review. The Act also was updated to cover emerging technologies, including hydrogen-at-sea generation, transmission, and storage.
Capacity Investment Scheme
The Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) is an Australian Government initiative designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar, and clean dispatchable capacity, such as battery storage. By providing a long-term revenue safety net, the scheme reduces financial risk for investors and ensures more renewable energy projects are built. Initially targeting 32 GW of new capacity nationally, the CIS was expanded in July 2025 to 40 GW, raising renewable generation targets from 23 GW to 26 GW and clean dispatchable capacity from 9 GW to 14 GW. Rolled out between 2024 and 2027, regular auctions for generation and dispatchable capacity will support around $73 billion in investment in Australia’s electricity sector. However, no offshore energy projects are currently supported.
Renewable Energy Target Scheme
The Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme encourages renewable electricity generation by aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector through the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target that sets out to deliver 33,000 gigawatt hours of extra renewable electricity each year and the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme for smaller scale systems.
