The Roundtable event invited conference speakers and participants to reflect on the conference and ask the critical question; where to from here?
Together, we unpacked opportunities for farmers to play a greater role in decarbonising the grid and explored how key challenges could be addressed through collaboration between the ag and energy sectors.
With over 300 delegates at the Conference and 60 at the Roundtable – the events provided an important opportunity for insight sharing between the Ag and Energy sectors, laying the foundations for future collaborations. Here’s a snapshot of some of the key themes.
Farmers, developers, energy transmission and distribution businesses alike are exceptionally keen to create meaningful collaborations to optimise benefits for host landholders and communities.
There were lots of ideas on how long-term positive impacts could be designed into projects by involving community stakeholders right from day one. These included:
- Impact-aware and community-governed benefit sharing programs
- On-farm energy audits and support to negotiate affordable energy contracts
- Legal and tax advice to support confident negotiation with renewable energy developers and transmission businesses
- Prioritising activities that provide long-term rural employment and enterprise creation.
Opportunities to enable regenerative farming practices and sustainable energy production through argi-voltaics were also a recurring theme, with many keen to see more research and development in this area.
#3 Land-use planning from top down to bottom up
Farmers and ag sector representatives emphasised the need for the farming community to be a meaningful part of the conversation about where new high-voltage transmission lines and other renewable energy infrastructure is planned, particularly where locations cross prime farmland. This includes engagement at all levels, from strategic system planning around the location of Renewable Energy Zones to the placement of infrastructure on individual properties.
Conversations echoed commitments made in the Energy Charter’s Better Practice Social Licence Guideline, which confirmed early engagement with landholders and community in route planning is essential to ensuring that wherever possible, transmission routes and methods are designed to minimise impacts.
With much enthusiasm to work together, both sectors also recongised the need to work productively with a range of other stakeholders, who also play a critical in ensuring an energy transition that benefits regional communities. Critical stakeholders included Local Government, energy regulators, new-tech developers, researchers and clean energy financers.