Taking effect on 12 December 2025, the Planning (Battery Storage Facilities) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 (Qld) (Regulations) amends the Planning Regulation 2017 (Qld) by introducing significant regulatory reform to the planning and assessment framework for battery energy storage facilities. The Regulations aim to align the State’s planning framework with current assessment processes for other renewable energy projects. Our previous article on the changes to the planning legislation can be found here.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) play a crucial role in the energy transition, stabilising the grid by storing excess generation and dispatching electricity during periods of peak demand. Prior to the Regulations, BESS projects were assessed against 77 different sets of rules depending on the requirements of individual local government planning schemes. This approach resulted in inconsistent and uncertain approvals processes for BESS projects across Queensland.
What are the key changes?
The key changes introduced by the Regulations include:
- Development applications for battery storage facilities with a capacity of 50MW or more must be accompanied by a social impact assessment (SIA) and community benefit agreement (CBA) at lodgment.
- BESS development, other than small scale battery storage facilities will require impact assessment. This means applications will be subject to public notification and community consultation.
- Appointing the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) as the assessment manager (decision maker) for assessable battery storage facility developments.
- Introduction of the new State Code 27: Battery Storage Facilities (now released) under the State Development Assessment Provisions, providing specific assessment benchmarks that are required to be considered when assessing battery storage facilities.
- Any BESS that is not yet approved and has a capacity of 50MW or more will not be exempt from the new rules. Any application (including those already under assessment) failing to include a compliant SIA or CBA will be deemed “not properly made” and as a result, will not be accepted for assessment. This is consistent with the transitional framework applied to wind and solar farms. Applications for BESS projects below the 50MW threshold will continue to be assessed by local governments.
What does this mean for current and future projects?
There are no grandfathering or transitional provisions that allow projects that are already well advanced in the approvals pathway to be exempt from the new rules. Those projects that are already well advanced through the approvals process will be impacted and may face significant delay.
Current and future proponents of BESS projects will need to prepare for longer approval timeframes and greater upfront costs to allow for extensive community consultation and to ensure applications adequately address the additional obligations.
Although the reforms will inevitably delay BESS projects, aligning approvals processes with the regulatory regime for other renewable projects will improve consistency and transparency while strengthening community confidence in battery storage developments.
The new State Code 27 will provide a unified approach for BESS projects across different local government areas. We recommend that proponents should now review the new State Code 27 and Planning Guidelines to ensure that they can comply.
