Powering Australia's renewable future

Australia is accelerating its transition to renewable energy with a bold and necessary commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 and a national target of 82% renewable electricity by 2030. These targets – driven by federal and state government mandates – are unlocking billions of dollars in infrastructure investment and creating a once-in-a-generation pipeline of clean energy projects across solar, wind, hydro, and emerging technologies like green hydrogen and battery storage.

For international and domestic renewable energy companies, this is an inflection point. Australia’s vast land resources, strong regulatory momentum, and growing energy demand provide fertile ground for companies involved in the design, construction, and delivery of large-scale clean energy infrastructure.

However, the opportunity comes with complexity.

Successfully delivering renewable energy projects in Australia requires navigating sophisticated legal, regulatory, and commercial frameworks. Consideration must be given to everything from project financing and land access to Indigenous engagement, supply chain risk, and environmental approvals. The legal landscape in this regard is evolving just as quickly as the technology.

At Pinsent Masons Vario, we see interim legal resourcing as a critical part of delivering responsive, commercially attuned legal support. This is especially the case in dynamic sectors like construction and infrastructure where this support needs to be scalable and capable of reacting to ever changing workloads.

Through our Flexible Services offering, we’re able to provide clients with high calibre legal and compliance professionals on an interim basis, to build elasticity into their team. These professionals can embed into their project teams, adapt to shifting timelines and provide targeted expertise without the overhead of traditional legal delivery models. This flexibility is particularly valuable during peak delivery phases, contract negotiations, or when navigating regulatory milestones.

This means we can scale legal support in real time—whether it’s advising on EPC contracts, helping manage risk across subcontractor relationships, or ensuring compliance with complex planning and environmental frameworks. We approach every engagement with a partnership mindset: understanding the client’s business goals, integrating seamlessly with internal teams, and tailoring our support to the life cycle of each project.

However, the expansion of the energy sector within Australia, won’t just put strain on the energy specific parts of in-house legal teams. It will also raise questions regarding ESG, data security and employment law as the different areas of law overlap and influence each other.

Within our Vario Hub, we have professionals who specialise in each of these areas, which will allow us to look holistically at the Australian market, in the way we already have been doing in the UK.

Australia’s renewable energy market is open, active, and scaling rapidly. With the right legal and commercial resources renewable energy companies can effectively deliver projects that will power the nation for decades to come.

If you’re exploring opportunities in Australia’s energy transformation, please contact us to see how we can help your team.