Energy & Environment
17 November 2025
Solicitor, Energy & Environment
New State Code 26 - Solar Farm Development
To strengthen how renewable energy projects are assessed in Queensland, earlier this year the Queensland Government implemented changes to the planning framework for such projects through the Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025. One of these changes included introducing a new State Code 26 – for Solar Farm developments.
Before State Code 26, the Queensland Government introduced State Code 23 – Wind Farm Development in 2021, in an effort to regulate renewable energy projects under the State Development Assessment Provisions (SDAP).
This code was developed in response to growing concerns around the land use, environmental, social, and amenity impacts of large-scale wind farms in regional Queensland.
The successful implementation of State Code 23 created a regulatory precedent for managing large-scale renewable wind infrastructure, which, up till now, was absent for solar farms, having been assessed under local government planning schemes instead.
With the introduction of State Code 26, the intention is for solar projects to be treated with the same regulatory scrutiny as wind projects.
If you would like to know more about the Queensland Governments recent legislative reforms, the Queensland Government has released guidelines available HERE.
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