Eleven Renewable Energy Zones have been declared in two states, one of them covering 20,000 square kilometres of the New South Wales central west, and the only one under construction has seen its transmission cost rise from $650 million to $5.5 billion before a single line is energised.

The Scale

Declared	11 zones: five in New South Wales, declared between November 2021 and February 2023, and six in Victoria, declared on 29 May 2026. Queensland, which named 12 in policy, has declared none.
What they are built to carry	35.4 gigawatts across the 11 zones, 16.5 in New South Wales and 18.9 in Victoria, a hosting target twelve times Eraring’s rating. New England’s is “up to 8 gigawatts”, which would make it 37.4.
How much land	Central West Orana covers about 20,000 square kilometres centred on Dubbo and Dunedoo, ten Port Phillip Bays. It is the only zone with a published area. Victoria’s planners said their proposed zones covered 7.9 percent of the state, with less than 1 percent of that needed for physical infrastructure.
Projects inside the first zone	Ten projects hold access rights in Central West Orana, 7,151 megawatts, against wires initially built for 4,500. The planning department counted 31 lodged projects, 428 approved turbines and 6.3 million approved panels at June 2025. Grant Piper’s count tabled at the parliamentary inquiry: 53 projects, about 1,000 turbines, more than nine million panels, more than 14 gigawatts.
The transmission	240 kilometres of new line for Central West Orana, 90 of it at 500 kilovolts and 150 at 330, on towers 45 to 70 metres tall set 400 to 600 metres apart: of the order of 400 to 600 towers (estimate). Construction began in June 2025; energisation from 2028.
The cost	Central West Orana’s network was declared in 2021 at $650 million. The Australian Energy Regulator’s 2025 determination is $5.5 billion, recovered through electricity bills over a 35-year contract with the ACEREZ consortium. New England’s network, about 305 kilometres, has no published cost; AEMO expects it in service in January 2034.

What Exists Now

Eleven zones have been declared by a government instrument. New South Wales declared five under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020. Victoria declared six by Ministerial Order: South West, Central Highlands, Western, North West, Gippsland and Gippsland Shoreline. A seventh, Central North, was proposed and held back for further consultation.

South Australia designated two release areas in January 2026, Whyalla West at about 6,500 square kilometres and Gawler Ranges East at about 5,200, a total of about 11,700 square kilometres of pastoral and Crown land. A release area is a licensing release, not a zone, and is counted separately.

Queensland has never declared a zone. Its 2024 Act required a regulation and none was made; in 2025 the targets were repealed and the framework renamed regional energy hubs.

What Is Being Built

One zone is under construction. Central West Orana was declared for 3 gigawatts of network capacity, raised to 6 in December 2023, to operate initially at 4.5, and on 16 January 2025 EnergyCo fixed the amount of generation and storage that can connect at 7.7 gigawatts, on the reasoning that wind, solar and batteries do not all export at once. Its transmission is designed, built, financed and operated by ACEREZ, a consortium of Acciona, Cobra and Endeavour Energy. EnergyCo says 97 percent of the properties along the route were acquired by agreement. It also says the zone will draw up to $25 billion of private investment.

The Numbers Inside One Zone

Three official counts exist for Central West Orana, and they do not agree because they count different populations. Applications lodged, projects approved, and projects holding network access are three distinct groups, and a project can leave one without entering the next. The distinction that Grant Piper, as a witness, drew between 14 gigawatts of nameplate capacity, what everything could make on its best day, and 6 gigawatts of network capacity, what the wires can carry, is important, and the oversubscription is not in dispute.

The Zones

Zone	State, declared, hosting target, network project
Central West Orana	NSW, 5 Nov 2021, 6,000 MW (4,500 initially), CWO REZ Transmission, $5.5 bn, building
New England	NSW, 17 Dec 2021, 6,000 MW initial, up to 8,000, New England REZ Network, about 305 km, 2034
South West	NSW, 4 Nov 2022, 2,500 MW, existing lines
Hunter-Central Coast	NSW, 9 Dec 2022, 1,000 MW, Hunter Transmission Project
Illawarra	NSW, 27 Feb 2023, 1,000 MW, none zone-specific
Gippsland	Vic, 29 May 2026, 5,200 MW
Central Highlands	Vic, 29 May 2026, 4,000 MW
South West	Vic, 29 May 2026, 3,600 MW
Western	Vic, 29 May 2026, 2,400 MW
Gippsland Shoreline	Vic, 29 May 2026, 2,000 MW, offshore wind connection
North West	Vic, 29 May 2026, 1,700 MW

Reading the Numbers

A hosting target is what a zone’s wires are built to carry. It is not built capacity and it is never added to the projects inside the zone. AEMO’s 44 candidate zones are a modelling construct with no legal status and are excluded from every count here. A tower count is an estimate from published spacing; AEMO has not published one.

Technical material prepared for To Save a Beach and removed from the manuscript for length. Figures are as at August 2026. Where a figure is an estimate, the assumption is stated.

Australia’s Renewable Energy Zones