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ARTICLE · 28 AUGUST 2026

Land Valuation For Renewables Projects – Important Case Update

Cooper Grace Ward
Cooper Grace Ward
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The Queensland Court of Appeal has delivered a landmark decision on land valuation methodology for renewable energy projects, examining whether a 500MW solar farm and battery storage facility should be valued as rural or non-rural land. The case centered on a dispute involving nearly six million dollars in valuation differences and raises critical questions about how development approvals for renewable energy infrastructure impact statutory land valuations under Queensland's Land Valuation Act 2010.

AustraliaEnergy and Natural Resources
Mark Cowan
Mark Cowan
Grace Chiari
Grace Chiari
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The Queensland Court of Appeal recently handed down a decision concerning the proper valuation methodology under the Land Valuation Act 2010 (LVA) to be applied to Neoen’s 500MW Western Downs Green Power Hub (Green Hub) battery storage and solar farm operation near Chinchilla in Queensland – Valuer-General, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing, and Regional and Rural Development v Western Downs Green Power Hub Pty Ltd [2026] QCA 118.

As with many renewables projects, the Green Hub is located on rural-zoned land that is the subject of development approvals granted for renewable energy use.

The Valuer-General had taken the position that the Green Hub land should be valued as ‘non-rural’ land, despite being located on rural-zoned land, because the development approval for the solar farm and battery storage use was for an ‘urban purpose’ (i.e. industrial in nature). On this basis, the higher ‘site value’ valuation methodology applied.

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