Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

The majority voted in favour of a motion to pass the bill in the Senate. In parliamentary jargon, they voted in favour of reading the bill a third time. As the bill has already passed in the House of Representatives, this vote means it can now become law.

What does this bill do?

According to the explanatory memorandum, which is a political document prepared by the party introducing the bill:

The Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (the Bill) amends the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 (Cth) (the OEI Act) to extend the application of amendments provided for in the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Amendment (Overlapping Applications) Regulations 2024 (the Amendment Regulations) to apply to feasibility licence applications received prior to the commencement of the Amendment Regulations.

The effect of the amendments in the Bill is for the regulatory parameters set out in the Amendment Regulations to apply consistently and fairly to all feasibility licence applications submitted to the Offshore Infrastructure Registrar (the Registrar) in response to an invitation to apply for feasibility licences for a declared area under the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure licensing scheme (OEI licensing scheme).

The Bill also amends the Climate Change Act 2022 to require that the Commonwealth must administer the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) program, and deliver at least 23 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity, and at least 9 gigawatts of clean dispatchable energy capacity by the end of 2030. The Bill further provides that, if the Climate Change Authority provides advice to inform the Annual Climate Change Statement indicating a material risk to achieving the capacity outcomes, the Minister is to respond to that advice. The Bill also provides that any amendment or revocation of the Industry Research and Development (Capacity Investment Scheme Program) Instrument 2023 (CIS Instrument), made under section 33 of the Industry Research and Development Act 1986 would only take effect following passage through Parliament.