Landholders are finding themselves at the frontlines of renewable energy transformation.
While regional and remote properties are increasingly in demand for solar arrays, wind turbines and storage installations, many landholders are poorly equipped to understand the value and impact of hosting renewable infrastructure. This can make progress slow and frustrate both developers and landowners.
This is an information gap that RELA Australia is closing.
With the support of $500,000 in Federal funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the marketplace platform is rolling out a significant upgrade to its land assessment software: Assess 2.0.
The tool offers free, independent desktop assessments of a parcel’s renewable energy potential – data that can help landowners make informed decisions, protect core farm operations, and negotiate better outcomes when approached by developers.
The aim is not just to increase project uptake, but to rebalance power in negotiations and build lasting social licence for the energy transition.
“We’re neither developers nor landowners,” says RELA CEO Michael Katz.
“Our neutrality means we can be fact-based. We don’t set the market – we provide landowners the facts, so they can engage on an equal footing.”
Self help avoids advisory bottleneck
The original version of the tool (Assess 1.0) offers useful insights but required RELA staff to manually run reports on a landholder’s behalf. This makes the process resource-intensive and limits its reach.
With Assess 2.0, RELA is creating a fully self-service platform, enabling landowners or their advisors to input property details and receive an automated, data-driven report in minutes.
“It’s much faster and far more scalable,” says Stuart Gourley, RELA’s Chief Product Officer.
“We want it to be as easy as possible for landowners to get accurate, independent information about their land’s renewable energy potential.”
The desktop analysis draws on a wide range of geospatial and infrastructure data – vegetation cover, watercourses, topography, grid proximity and capacity, and more – layered with new social licence indicators and advanced grid analysis.
Importantly, it now incorporates landholders’ own farm planning priorities, including infrastructure placement, exclusion zones and land-use preferences. This cuts time and friction in the later stages of the negotiation.
“They can run different scenarios,” Gourley says.
“What if I make this part of my farm available? What if I want certain infrastructure to be unaffected? They can consider those different scenarios, weigh up the cost-benefit analysis, and make informed decisions about how they want to balance their opportunity.”
Reducing asymmetry, building confidence
Katz likens the current imbalance to selling a used car without knowing its market value.
“We’ve seen landholders sign deals that were undervalued – and others with wildly inflated expectations. Our job isn’t to push prices up or down. It’s to provide clarity, so landowners understand market dynamics,” he says.
“Sometimes the opportunity is to actually create value on your farm through these projects as well. One of our first clients said, ‘A road in the right place is an asset and a road in the wrong place is a liability.’”
That imbalance is not just financial. Farmers are experts in producing food and fibre, but not renewable energy projects.
An imbalanced market can erode trust, sour negotiations and slow project rollouts – problems the 2023 Dyer Community Engagement Review identified as key obstacles to Australia’s clean energy ambitions.
“The misconception is that if you’re a good negotiator and a good businessperson and you know the land, then you’re ready to negotiate a wind farm,” says Katz.
“But it’s a highly esoteric, complex negotiation. You need a good team around you – not just RELA, but also the right lawyers and financial advisors.”
The upgraded RELA Assess tool will not provide legal advice or guarantee outcomes, but it does give landholders a clear sense of whether their land is viable, what it might be worth in a renewables context, and how different land-use scenarios affect its potential.
Users receive estimates in terms of dollars per megawatt or turbine, indicative net present value of rental streams, and contextual grid data – all explained in plain language.
That transparency has another benefit: it helps reduce friction between landowners and developers.
As Gourley says, “We’re supportive of good projects and balanced outcomes. We want to help both sides get to agreement faster, based on a shared understanding of the facts.”
Stakeholder-led, landholder-focused
One of the most distinctive features of the Assess 2.0 project is how it is being shaped. From the beginning, RELA has embedded a Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG) into the product’s development process. The group includes farmers, landholder advisors, agricultural peak bodies, First Nations representatives, as well as government and industry stakeholders.
It’s not just consultation for consultation’s sake, says Katz.
“There’s a saying I’ve heard from a lot of people in the regions: we’re over-consulted but under-engaged,” he says.
“People say, ‘What do you reckon?’ and then ignore it. What’s powerful here is that their perspectives of market participants are being represented in real tools being built for their people and implemented to market.
“Every SRG recommendation is formally tracked, responded to, and, where feasible, implemented. If it’s not feasible and in scope for this project, we’re considering how it could be implemented in the future. There’s a direct line from community and stakeholder insights to the product we’re releasing.”
That emphasis on co-design extends to how the tool supports First Nations perspectives and traditional land uses. While still in development, these features will be refined in future iterations with SRG guidance.
Guardrails and governance
RELA’s independence is core to its credibility. The company does not own land or develop energy projects, and it is not a party to the transaction itself. Assess 2.0 is free for landowners and strictly private. Users control their own data and no third parties can access or infer which properties have been assessed.
“We don’t have a position on energy policy or politics,” says Katz.
“Our view is that farmers should have access to the facts and data they need to make informed decisions, and that’s the role we play.”
Gourley says RELA has no plans to sell user data or allow backdoor access. The information is for the landowner and their advisors to use.
For landholders unable or unwilling to use the tool directly – whether due to limited digital literacy, connectivity, or preference – RELA will continue to offer staff-run assessments as in version 1.0. Advisors and agents will also be able to use the tool on a client’s behalf, further extending its reach.
Complementary to policy, not a replacement
While the Assess platform is independent, it aligns closely with national policy trends. The Federal Government’s upcoming Developer Rating Scheme – designed to increase transparency and trust in renewable project proponents – shares the same goals of fairer deals and informed engagement.
RELA’s tool does not assess or rate developers, but it gives landowners the foundational knowledge to interact with them from a position of strength.
The work also aligns with ARENA’s emphasis on social licence and landholder inclusion as preconditions for energy transition success.
According to Katz, RELA was able to demonstrate not only alignment with ARENA’s goals, but real-world outcomes: stalled projects that progressed after landholders used RELA tools to clarify their terms and conditions.
“Technology alone won’t get us to net zero,” he says.
“We need a social model that respects landholders’ knowledge, protects their operations, and shares the benefits.”
The road ahead
RELA plans to expand Assess to support battery storage assessments, and ways to integrate carbon and biodiversity offset opportunities, which are increasingly linked to renewables projects and offering landholders additional revenue streams.
“This isn’t just about helping farmers get a better deal,” Katz says.
“It’s about enabling regional Australia to take an active, informed, and equitable role in shaping the future of energy.”
The platform will remain free for landholders to access and use.
RELA’s expanded Assess platform is due to launch in the first quarter of 2026.