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Unit of study_
LAWS5207: Energy Law: Renewables and Emerging Tech
2025 unit information
The mass commercialisation and uptake of renewable energy will be one of the most significant developments in the 21st century in terms of transforming both the industrial sector and daily life. The shift away from fossil fuels is already noticeable, with net investment in new renewable energy generation now exceeding that for fossil fuels. This unit explores the legal challenges associated with the increased uptake of renewable energy and emerging energy technologies. It considers approaches to electricity market design, and considers whether regulatory intervention in the market is warranted. Given the international nature of the renewable energy sector, students will explore and evaluate the effectiveness of the laws and policy approaches of different countries in promoting the increased deployment of renewable energy. Throughout this unit students will also have the opportunity to explore the issues that may arise throughout the life of a new renewable energy project, including environment and planning disputes, competition law issues, the need to successfully negotiate with key stakeholders, and to consider creative solutions to addressing them.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Law School
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Law |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
|
LAWS5002 |
|---|---|
|
Corequisites:
?
|
None |
| Prohibitions:
?
|
LAWS3507 |
| Assumed knowledge:
?
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. explain the specific legal issues posed by renewable energy sources and emerging energy technologies
- LO2. understand the theoretical reasons for regulatory intervention or non-intervention in the energy market to support those energy sources
- LO3. compare the approaches of different states to the exploitation of their renewable energy sources, and the different legal vehicles used to support and control the involvement of public and private capital involved in this task
- LO4. identify the problems that may arise at each stage of the project development including environmental approvals, public consultations, and negotiating with incumbent market players and to analyse legal solutions
- LO5. outline the current legal and economic approaches to electricity market governance and design, and critically analyse their ongoing relevance in the context of the energy transition
- LO6. consider how legal regimes for renewable energy and emerging energy technologies may be evaluated in terms of political, commercial and legal risks, including the risk of international trade disputes.
- LO7. critically apply the acquired legal knowledge and skills to novel problem scenarios affecting renewable energy and emerging technology projects
- LO8. identify opportunities to reform the law to improve outcomes for energy consumers and industry and create policy and law reform submissions to affect positive change to the energy sector
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
There are no availabilities for this year.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 2b 2025
|
Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
