General News
24 November, 2025
More REZ announced for Victoria
On Thursday, November 20, the Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, issued draft renewable energy zone orders for five additional onshore renewable energy zones in the Western, Central Highlands, Gippsland, North West, and South West of Victoria.
The Western Renewable Energy Zone comprises two sections: one north of Horsham, between Dooen and Hopetoun, and one between Stawell and Donald.
It includes parts of the Horsham Rural City, Yarriambiack, Hindmarsh, Buloke, Northern Grampians and Pyrenees municipalities.
It is within the Registered Aboriginal Party boundaries of the Barengi Gadjin Land Council and Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.
The draft Western Renewable Energy Zone also includes new areas that were not previously identified in the draft Victorian Transmission Plan.
The zone consists of 2 sections, which were formerly known as the Grampians Wimmera and Wimmera Southern Mallee draft proposed renewable energy zones.
The Minister has also issued a draft order for the Gippsland Shoreline Renewable Energy Zone, designed to coordinate the private underground cables connecting offshore wind generation to the shared network.
Consultation on the draft orders is now open until February 22 2026, offering people the chance to provide feedback to help shape the development of renewable energy zones.
VicGrid uses access to strong winds or sunshine to determine where to plan REZ zones for renewable energy.
In addition to wind and sun, they consider the availability of existing or planned transmission infrastructure, if farming they consider could co-exist with renewable projects, impacts on the environment and biodiversity, impacts on the local community, Traditional Owners, and culturally sensitive areas, interest from project developers, and regional economic development opportunities.
VicGrid says they have sought input from communities, landholders, Traditional Owners, and industry on the latest proposed zones and are now seeking any significant new information on sensitive areas, potential impacts, or areas suitable for development that weren’t identified in previous rounds of consultation.
Each draft order sets out a map of the zone, transmission projects to enable the zone, and the intended hosting capacity that the planned transmission network could support in the zone.
The orders make it a requirement that solar, wind, and battery developers meet government expectations for community engagement and deliver social value and economic benefits.
VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker said in the announcement that coordinating development in renewable energy zones would give communities and industry greater certainty, minimise impacts, and keep down costs.
“Coal-fired power stations are becoming unreliable and closing down, and the cheapest option to replace them is solar and wind generation backed by storage and transmission infrastructure,” he said.
“This is a big change that has the potential to leave a lasting legacy for regional and rural Victoria if it’s well managed and planned.”
All feedback on the draft orders will be reviewed, and relevant new information will be incorporated to help define zone boundaries and other aspects of the draft orders.
The Minister will then decide on the formal declaration of these five renewable energy zones.
In addition to the five zones currently open for consultation, the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan also proposed a Central North Renewable Energy Zone.
More information on the consultation for the Central North REZ will be provided in early 2026.
People can find details of the draft renewable energy zone orders and how to provide feedback on the Engage Victoria website.