Victoria's renewable energy planning framework has matured considerably since the first utility-scale solar projects of the mid-2010s. For a proponent landing on a candidate site, the first strategic decision is which approvals pathway to pursue.

Wherever the application lands, the substantive controls are the same: Clause 53.13 (Renewable energy facility — other than wind energy facility) sets the application requirements and decision guidelines, and the Department's Solar Energy Facilities Design and Development Guideline must be considered. What changes between pathways is who decides, how fast, and who can appeal.

The pathways

1. Local council permit (facilities under 1MW)

For smaller solar facilities — below 1MW installed capacity, in zones where the use is not prohibited — the local council is the responsible authority. The process is broadly comparable to any larger industrial permit, with the Clause 53.13 requirements layered over the top: landscape and character impact, agricultural land quality, glint and glare, decommissioning.

2. Minister for Planning (1MW and above)

For facilities of 1MW or more, the Minister for Planning is the responsible authority — the schedule to Clause 72.01 puts these applications in the Minister's hands rather than the council's. This pathway is materially different in practice: the Department coordinates exhibition and referrals, and the local council becomes a submitter rather than the decision-maker.

3. The Development Facilitation Program (Clause 53.22)

Since Amendment VC261 (April 2024), renewable energy facilities of 1MW or more can also seek accelerated assessment through the Development Facilitation Program under Clause 53.22. For eligible projects the DFP offers a materially faster decision and — significantly — exemption from third-party notice and review. For a commercially financed project, removing the appeal-risk tail from the program is often worth more than the time saved in assessment.

4. Environment Effects Statement (EES)

Very large or environmentally sensitive projects may be referred by the Minister for Planning for an Environment Effects Statement under the Environment Effects Act 1978. An EES is a multi-year process and a major commercial undertaking. Most solar projects do not need one; those that do, need it planned for from the first day.

There is also a bespoke fifth route for projects that don't fit a standard permit at all: a site-specific planning scheme amendment with an incorporated document. We used this pathway — a Section 20(4) amendment introducing a Specific Controls Overlay — to secure ministerial approval for a 7MW solar facility at The Basin, where the zoning meant a conventional permit could not deliver the use.

What drives the pathway choice

In practice, three factors determine which pathway applies:

Scale — installed capacity is the bright line: 1MW determines whether the council or the Minister decides.
Location — sensitive receptors, cultural heritage, native vegetation, agricultural classification, and whether the zone allows the use at all.
Program and risk appetite — the DFP trades a heavier up-front application for speed and appeal-risk certainty; a standard ministerial permit keeps more flexibility.

The pathway choice is not always in the proponent's hands; but the early strategic framing of a project — how it is described, where it sits, what early consultation has occurred — significantly influences how it is characterised.

What we do

We have worked on solar and wind projects across regional Victoria from first site selection through to permit issue — including delivering approvals where no standard pathway existed. The highest-leverage moment in any renewable project is the first three months: getting the approvals strategy right at that point saves years downstream.

Solar farms in Victoria — choosing the right approvals pathway