New South Wales to support fuel security projects
Sydney (18 May)
New South Wales’ (NSW) state government will provide tailored regulatory and fast-tracking support to large electric vehicle charging, liquid fuel production, and fuel storage developers through its Investment Delivery Authority (IDA), it announced on 17 May.
IDA plans to open an Expressions of Interest (EOI) process for fuel security projects valued at over A$100 million, multiple NSW Ministers said. The agency – which provides non-financial, regulatory support to developers – will also look for early-stage projects to understand development challenges, they added.
“[The] new targeted round of the [IDA] will make sure NSW attracts the right investments to create a more resilient fuel future,” Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully said. “There is great port and industrial land capacity in NSW that could be harnessed to support our long-term fuel security,” Scully added.
The policy is meant to safeguard NSW against future global supply shocks, Scully said on 18 May. Australia has more petrol, diesel, and jet fuel in storage than it did on 28 February – the day the US-Israeli war in Iran began – because of consistent contracted imports and Government-backed spot purchases.
IDA acts as a cross-government coordinator at the state level, working with agencies and developers to speed up project approval processes. The agency has agreed to support A$86.3 billion worth of data centre, energy, and hotel developments since early 2026.
Most IDA-supported energy projects are renewable generation and storage schemes. It backed 13 renewable developments in March. But it also recently backed Santos’ 200 TJ/day Hunter Gas Pipeline project, which will support its Narrabri gas project.
IDA’s latest EOI round will focus on renewable liquid fuel projects, including sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, and biodiesel plants.
NSW’ IDA is only one of many state and federal agencies tasked with providing bespoke regulatory support to large developers. The Federal Government will help multiple critical mineral developers get approval for nickel, biomass-to-liquid fuel, electric vehicle, and green hydrogen projects through its Investor Front Door scheme.
Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia also created Coordinator-General offices to facilitate collaboration between state-level agencies on major project approvals in 2024-25. Northern Territory, meanwhile, set up a similar Territorial Coordinator office in 2025.
By Avinash Govind