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Victorian Renewable Energy Target auctions VRET1 and VRET2
The Victorian Renewable Energy Target auctionsVRET1 and VRET2 help us meet our renewable energy targets by providing long-term contracts that create investment certainty to build new energy generation projects.
Energy Innovation Fund
The Energy Innovation Fund supports activities that progress innovative projects to commercial products. This includes:
- feasibility and pre-investment studies
- front-end-engineering-design
- large-scale pilots and demonstrations.
Managing impacts of renewable energy projects on biodiversity
We are taking action to balance protection of Victoria’s unique and threatened biodiversity while enabling essential new renewable energy projects.
A better approach to managing biodiversity impacts of renewable energy projects outlines actions to support the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, while protecting our precious biodiversity. This will provide energy proponents, and investors, greater clarity and predictability when it comes to the process for having projects assessed.
Actions include:
- Improved spatial analysis that identifies risks and opportunities for biodiversity harm reduction and renewable energy development, which includes the new Habitat Value Map and Marine Biodiversity Values map.
- Targeted research projects to fill critical knowledge gaps about bird and bat impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation measures, to inform policy development. Outcomes will be published as they become available on DEECA's Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research website (ARI).
- Improved guidance for addressing the impacts of renewable energy facilities that reflects a strategic and risk-based approach in line with global best practice - Handbook for the development of renewable energy in Victoria.
DEECA conducted public consultation on the proposed guidance between December 2024 and February 2025. Further information on the consultation process and a summary of the outcomes of the process are available on the Engage Victoria website.
Victorian Transmission Plan
The 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan marks a significant step in the state’s renewable energy transition.
The plan is about building the new energy infrastructure we need to keep Victoria's lights on as coal closes down.
This is a new approach which has listened to communities, landholders, Traditional Owners, regional stakeholders and industry to balance a range of factors, minimise impacts and share benefits more fairly.
The plan sets out the transmission infrastructure we need to build over the next 15 years to enable the development of new renewable energy sources.
It also proposes the creation of 6 renewable energy zones (REZs) that signal to the community, landholders and industry where wind and solar projects and batteries for storage should be developed.
The plan will deliver affordable and reliable power for homes and businesses, lowering annual Victorian energy bills by $20 for households and $50 for businesses compared to not implementing the plan.
Further information about the plan and renewable energy zones is available on the VicGrid website.
Ensuring benefits for communities
The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring Traditional Owners, local communities and landholders have a genuine say in the planning and development of renewable energy and transmission projects, to guide better decision-making and achieve real, lasting benefits from their development.
We are working with VicGrid to define the government’s minimum expectations for how project developers engage and create social value and economic benefits for communities hosting renewable energy infrastructure.
The new draft Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines for Renewable Energy and Transmission Projects sets out 48 expectations developers will need to meet as a minimum.
Consultation on the draft guidelines is open until 5 November. It is a chance for people to have their say on the standards they think developers should be held to.
Further information, including the guidelines and how to have your say are available on the Engage Victoria website – Victorian Access Regime | Engage Victoria.
Australian Government Capacity Investment Scheme
The Australian Government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) is a national program to underwrite 14 gigawatts (GW) of clean dispatchable capacity and 26 GW of renewable energy projects to be delivered by 2030 through competitive tenders between 2024 and 2026.
The scheme is critical in helping both Australia and Victoria unlock much needed investment and meet renewable energy, storage and emission reduction targets.
Through a bilateral Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement (RETA) between the Victorian and Australian Governments, Victoria has secured an allocation of 5 GW of renewable energy projects (with a cap on support for solar projects of 1.5 GW) and 1.7 GW of four-hour duration storage through the CIS. As of 9 October 2025, the CIS has awarded agreements to just over 1.5 GW of solar farms and almost 1.3 GW of wind farms, and 1.8 GW of dispatchable capacity in Victoria, mostly 4 hr duration in length – highlighting that significant underwriting is still available for wind generation capacity.
CIS tenders will now have updated merit criteria and expedited assessment timeframes. The updated merit criteria will provide flexibility to renewable energy projects that can commence operations by 31 December 2030.
Importantly, this means delays in delivery of key transmission projects in Victoria (for example Western Renewables Link now expected by Q4 2029 and the VNI-West Interconnector now expected by Q4 2030) will not affect the ability of Victorian generation projects to participate in forthcoming CIS auctions.
These changes preference projects with credible pathways for delivery by this date but will continue to be flexible for later dates if successful projects are affected by further unforeseen events.
Developers can consider the specific details of updated CIS tender merit criteria when considering bidding into the CIS, which can be found at the Commonwealth Government CIS website.
Planning and approvals for renewable energy projects
The Minister for Planning is the responsible authority for new planning permit applications for energy generation facilities that are one megawatt or greater.
Learn more at Planning- renewable energy facilities.
Business and Industry Engagement team
The Business and Industry Engagement (BIE) team is your first port of call for guidance, information and access to industry networks and programs. BIE assists business and industry stakeholders to navigate government and connect with the relevant policy, regulatory and program areas to help progress their projects and technologies.
Contact: BIE@delwp.vic.gov.au
BIE connects stakeholders with helpful industry tools, contacts, and referrals across the whole of Victoria’s renewable energy value chain to leverage strategic partnerships. BIE promotes Victorian investment opportunities to prospective international and interstate markets and coordinate visit programs for international business energy delegations.
Page last updated: 10/10/25