1. Page 1The University of Sydney
‘Lessons from renewable
energy laws - how do countries
legislate to support renewables
to meet the needs of domestic
consumers and renewables
producers?’
Associate Professor Penelope Crossley,
Sydney Law School

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What we will cover:
NEW ORIGINAL
RESEARCH
CURRENT STATE
OF PLAY
A LOOK TO THE
FUTURE

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As different techniques for generating renewable energy become
commercialised and the manufacturing of renewable technologies
became more concentrated in particular countries, renewable energy
laws would also come under pressure to harmonise to facilitate trade,
improve information sharing and ease administration.
Spoiler Alert: Except in the EU, there are stark differences emerging
in many areas of renewable energy law and this divergence acts as a
source of competition for investment.
New original research - hypothesis

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Current state of renewable energy globally
In 2018, renewable energy accounted for 63% of net
additions to global power generation.
$US 289 billion invested in new renewable
generation capacity (including hydropower).

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The current status of national renewable energy laws
By 1 August 2018:
146
countries had
renewable
energy targets
138
countries
had support
policies
113
countries had
national
renewable
energy laws

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What has happened in the past 5 years?
– 18 countries enacted renewable energy laws for the first time
(significant growth among Caribbean countries and African
countries)
– Over 50% of countries with existing laws amended their laws
– This has prompted a spate of Investor-State Disputes involving
the sector (currently sitting at 102 different disputes)

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Motivations for national renewable energy laws

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1. Highly energy self-sufficient and competing financial interests
in fossil fuels: e.g. OPEC Member States
2. Lack the skills, capacity or resources to develop legislation: e.g.
countries with low GDP and poor access to electricity
3. Countries with the constitutional inability to enact a national
law: e.g. Canada
Countries without a national renewable energy law

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Legislative objectives as a proxy for national
motivations
– Berry: ‘a purpose section is a provision that explicitly states the
social, economic or political objective or goal that is sought to
be achieved, assuming that the provisions of the statute are
implemented by those who are required or authorised to
perform that function.’
– The primary role is to act as a guide for the statutory
interpretation of ambiguous legislative provisions.

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Some of the existing literature
‘…the motivations for and
objectives of RE policy are
strikingly similar across most
countries.’ Lipp

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Some of the existing literature
– Aguirre and Ibijunle (2014): ‘over the past
couple of decades, environmental concerns
have been more critical drivers of countries’
decisions to increase renewables investment
than energy security.’
– Charnovitz and Fischer (2015): ‘renewable
energy policies enjoy broad public and
governmental support around the world…the
foremost rationale for them is to reduce the
threat of climate change.’

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Renewable energy and The Paris Agreement
145 Parties included domestic
action to support renewable
energy to help mitigate and
adapt to climate change in
their NDCs.
109 Parties provided
quantifiable targets for
renewables.

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Results of the global study (2018)
– 28 categories of legislative objectives were identified.
– 8 key themes identified in the legislative objectives:
security, the environment, industrial policy, the economy,
society, international and regional, sectoral and
education and training.

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– Energy law and policy are not primarily driven by international
or even regional concerns (other than in the EU)
– Renewable energy laws reflect domestic concerns and thus show
national differences
– This promotes greater public acceptance at home but fuels
international competition
Domestic consumer and producer needs are not
converging internationally

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Priority of
legislative
objective
The Gambia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala
1 Energy security Sustainable development More efficient use of
natural resources and
energy conservation
Meet international treaty
obligations and
international agreements
Promote private
investment and FDI
2 Reduce use of fossil fuels or
nuclear imports
Reduce GHGs and address
climate change
Environmental protection Diversify supply
3 Diversify supply Environmental protection Sustainable development Energy security
4 Affordable energy Affordable energy Promote private
investment and FDI
Strengthen the economy
5 Reduce GHGs and address
climate change
Reduce use of fossil fuels or
nuclear imports
Diversify supply National development
6 Strengthen the economy More efficient use of natural
resources and energy
conservation
Energy security Promote the
development of the
internal energy market
and regional integration
7 Environmental protection Encourage technological
innovations
Improved access to
electricity
Reduce GHGs and
address climate change
8 Create jobs or improve skills
and domestic capabilities
Create jobs or improve
skills and domestic
capabilities
9 More efficient use of natural
resources and energy
conservation

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Theme Category of legislative objectives Number of countries citing the
legislative objective
Weighted rank
Security objectives Energy security 49 3.41
Diversify supply 41 3.73
Reduce use of fossil fuels imports or
nuclear imports
35 3.69
Encourage greater use of indigenous
energy sources
10 3.20
Subtotal citations/Average weighted
rank
135 3.56
Environmental objectives Environmental protection 55 5.09
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
address climate change
28 5.89
Reduce risk of natural and nuclear
disasters
2 6.50
Subtotal citations/Average weighted
rank
85 5.38

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– Energy security (Denmark)
– Diversify supply (Finland, Czech Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Peru,
Romania, Taiwan and South Africa)
– Promote the development of the internal energy market and
regional integration (selected EU Member States + four EU
candidate countries + Kosovo, Morocco and Paraguay)
– Reduce the risk of natural and nuclear disasters (Bangladesh,
France)
Selected examples

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– Support the development of new industry and infrastructure
(China, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines)
– Local manufacturing (Turkey)
– Public health, improve living standards or social development
(DRC)
– Access to energy (Pakistan, Suriname) v energy affordability
(Germany, Switzerland)
Selected examples (cotd.)

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The definition of renewable energy sources

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0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Peat
Nuclear
Osmotic/ salt gradient
Hydrogen fuel cells
Hydrothermal (maremotermica)
Wave
Tidal
Hydropower - large scale
Geothermal
Biomass
Landfill gas, sewage treatment gas, biogas
Hydropower - small scale
Concentrated Solar Thermal
Solar - Photovoltaic
Wind
Number of countries with the renewable energy source in their law
Which energy sources are legally defined as
‘renewable’?

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– Hydropower: Large-scale, small-scale?
– Large-scale is excluded by 27 countries from their law
– Note the definition of small-scale varies considerably:
• 3MW in Panama to 30MW in Malaysia and Tajikistan
Definitions to watch for consumer/producer
preferences

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– Biomass: Modern, traditional and woody biomass?
– Example: Kenya – charcoal
– Examples: Bangladesh, Belarus Finland and Thailand - wood
– Example: Australia – wood waste from old growth forests
– Cf: China’s Renewable Energy Law:
• This law shall not apply to the utilization of straw or stalks,
firewood or dung in the form of direct burning through an
inefficient cooking range.
Definitions to watch for consumer/producer
preferences

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Example: Sweden
Law (2011: 1200) on electricity
certificates
Section 2 In this Act,
1. renewable electricity means
electricity produced from
renewable energy sources or
peat;
2. renewable energy source:
biofuel, geothermal energy, solar
energy, hydropower, wind power
and wave energy,

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malawi_in_Africa.svg
What happens when domestic needs are not
accounted for? Energy Regulation Act (2004) Malawi
‘Renewable Energy’ means those sources
of energy available to mankind arising
from natural processes in the interaction
between the sun and the earth’s surface
and regularly replenished and these
include the sun as the primary renewable
energy resource and the secondary
renewable energy resources that derive
from the sun including wind energy, hydro,
ocean thermal, ocean wave, ocean tidal
and electricity from photovoltaic effects,
biomass, geothermal, etc;

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Regulatory support mechanisms

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Some examples from China
– Explicit vs tacit local content
clauses
– Differential feed-in tariffs
depending on resource
quality
– Differential quotas for
different provinces/States
– Payment terms to coincide
with harvest/lambing season

28. Page 28The University of Sydney
Case Study: Chinese Wind Subsidy WTO Dispute
– In 2005, the market share of foreign turbine firms in China was
75%.
– The NDRC introduced a cap that required Chinese wind farms to
source at least 70 % of turbine parts from domestic producers.
– Over a three-year period, the market share of foreign turbine
firms declined by 55 percentage points to a 20% market share.
– China went from having only 6 domestic wind turbine
manufacturers to being the number one producer of in the world.

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Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
– Article 3: The relevant clauses of this Article state:
3.1 ‘ … the following subsidies, within the meaning of Article
1, shall be prohibited:
(b) subsidies contingent, whether solely or as one of several
other conditions, upon the use of domestic over imported goods.
3.2 A Member shall neither grant nor maintain subsidies
referred to in paragraph 1.’

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风力发电设备产业化专项资金管理暂行办法
– The qualifying criteria for this subsidy included:
–to be eligible companies had to be state-owned or Chinese-
controlled wind power equipment manufacturers;
–the developed equipment had to have Chinese Intellectual
Property Right, i.e. the company must own the critical
technology or techniques; and
–the wind turbine systems had to be manufactured, installed and
tested in China and must be operated without fault for more
than 240 hours.

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Future developments in renewable energy laws
1. As renewable energy sources
become increasingly cost
competitive, we will see a shift
from accelerating deployment to
managing high levels of grid
integration.
2. Resilience to new threats: bushfires
à DER and microgrids, climate
change and droughts à
impacting on the production of
hydropower

32. Page 32The University of Sydney
Conclusions
1. The primary motivations of most countries in adopting
renewable energy laws is not addressing climate change.
2. National priorities are clearly evident as motivations and
market drivers in renewable energy laws. This creates
competition in the market.
3. End user needs are critical to the ultimate success of the
laws.

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1. There are significant risks in not diversifying the manufacture of
renewable energy technologies and market concentration.
2. Energy storage laws are about ten years behind renewable
energy laws.
Lessons for emerging energy technologies

34. Page 34The University of Sydney
Dr Penelope Crossley
Sydney Law School
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
Room 416, New Law Building
The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006
T +61 2 9351 0388
E penelope.crossley@sydney.edu.au
Renewable Energy Law
An International Assessment
Penelope Crossley
Longbottom
Interrogating the concepts of allegiance and identity in a globalised world
involves renewing our understanding of membership and participation
within and beyond the nation-state. Allegiance can be used to define a
singular national identity and common connection to a nation-state. In a
global context, however, we need more dynamic conceptions to understand
the importance of maintaining diversity and building allegiance with
others outside borders. Understanding how allegiance and identity are
being reconfigured today provides valuable insights into important
contemporary debates around citizenship.
“This book reveals how public and international law understand allegiance
and identity. Each involves viewing the nation-state as fundamental to
concepts of allegiance and identity, but they also see the world slightly
differently. With contributions from philosophers, political scientists and
social psychologists, the result is a thorough appraisal of allegiance and
identity in a range of socio-legal contexts.”
James T. Smith, New York Literary Review
ThomasPaineandtheIdeaofHumanRights
Crossley.9781107185760.PPC.CMYK
Cover image: unknown artist’s photograph of a
distressed cliff face.