Corbell said the report identified key areas where planning regimes could be improved, including setting clearer consultation requirement guidance, developing a data-sharing platform for regulators, proponents and operators, and streamlining interaction between states and the Commonwealth.

“Investment in clean energy projects is urgently needed to achieve net-zero targets,” Corbell said. “Planning processes can be enhanced to improve outcomes for communities, the environment and clean energy investment.”

In a bid to fast-track wind and solar project construction, the Victorian government last month said it would make renewable energy eligible for accelerated planning approvals by treating them as “significant economic development”, which would remove the planning panel process and third-party appeals.

“We will cut the red tape holding back projects that provide stronger, cheaper power,” Premier Jacinta Allan said.

“The current system means that important projects can be tied up for years seeking approval. It delays construction and deters investment, and instead of spinning turbines, we’re too often left spinning our wheels.”

The rising price of electricity has been a major driver of cost-of-living pressures across Australia. Wholesale electricity prices rose sharply in 2022, blowing out customers’ power bills by hundreds of dollars. The increases followed a spate of breakdowns at ageing coal-fired power stations, which forced utilities to buy additional coal and gas to fill shortfalls just as prices were trading at record highs due to the war in Ukraine.

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Since then, prices have retreated as a continuing influx of cheaper renewable energy into the grid has cut the use of more expensive coal-fired power, while milder weather has generally kept a lid on demand.

The energy regulator is already preparing to cut “default market offers” – the maximum prices retailers can charge east coast customers on standard bills – by up to 7 per cent from July 1.

The Albanese government, which aims to boost renewable sources to 82 per cent of the electricity grid by 2032, says accelerating the green energy rollout will lead to further price cuts to come.

However, new modelling from analysts at Cornwall Insight on Tuesday suggested Australia’s ongoing phase-out of coal power generators and “sluggish” progress in launching new renewable energy projects could keep wholesale prices elevated until the 2030s.

“The key to ensuring long-term energy security and affordability lies in a smooth and rapid shift to renewables,” Cornwall modelling manager Ben Tudman said. “Unfortunately, delays to workforce growth are hindering the transition, leaving all the national electricity market regions struggling to fill the void left by the retirement of coal-generated power.”

Australia’s eastern states are forecast to need more than 70,000 people in jobs to build and maintain new renewable energy infrastructure in the next 20 years, up from approximately 40,000 people in 2023, Cornwall said. “Shortages in the workforce are likely to hinder the deployment of essential renewable projects necessary to replace retiring coal plants, pushing up power prices in the process,” it said.

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