DURING Tuesday’s (May 7) Wellington Shire Council meeting, Coastal Ward councillor, Marcus McKenzie raised concerns about VicGrid’s lack of transparency regarding the proposed above-ground transmission line.
This comes after VicGrid announced on March 22 that overhead transmission lines will be constructed, preferred to underground because they cost less.
But Cr McKenzie said people in the community are not happy, having favoured the underground option.
With the state government granting feasibility licences for six proponents of offshore wind farms in the Gippsland zone last week, Cr McKenzie said that time is of the essence in providing communities with a blueprint of what renewable energy in the region will look like – specifically, what overhead transmissions will look like.
The present proposal for overhead transmissions will accommodate two gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy generation, a figure that encapsulates the state government’s 2032 renewable energy target. However, with 4GW targeted by 2035 and an additional 9GW by 2040, Cr McKenzie questioned, “How can there not be a spaghetti effect if so much electricity is forecast to come through the (Wellington) Shire?”
This sentiment is shared by Moyne Shire Mayor Karen Foster, who called criss-crossing powerlines above Mortlake’s cattle grazing land “ariel spaghetti”, as reported by The Age in June last year.
The Age reported that the small south-west Victorian town is occupied by 300 wind turbines and that new powerlines cross over decade-old powerlines, leaving a prominent mark on the landscape. It was reported that the Moyne Shire is calling for the introduction of rules to put the additional powerlines underground or co-located with existing ones.
The total energy production of the offshore wind zone in Gippsland is estimated at 25GW. To accommodate this capacity, Cr McKenzie pondered, “Where does VicGrid propose to build additional transmission lines, and how will that look?”
The councillor shared his views following a meeting on April 17 between Star of the South Community Advisory Group and VicGrid’s executive director of Project Delivery, Danny Benjamin, and project director, Nishana Perera.
The Star of the South Community Advisory Group is made up of 21 members from across the region. It includes residents and council representatives from the Wellington, South Gippsland, and Latrobe City councils, as well as groups such as Birdlife Australia, Gippsland Climate Change Network, and the Gurnaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation. Cr McKenzie is the Wellington Shire representative on the advisory group.
“My takeaway from the meeting is that VicGrid are not being transparent with the Wellington community, and as council, we have a responsibility to obtain clarity of what VicGrid proposes,” he said.
He added that a large proportion of the Gippsland transmission zone – 98 per cent according to Cr McKenzie – will run through the Wellington Shire, highlighting the community’s right to information.
The study area extends approximately six kilometres inland from the coast, starting near Giffard and continuing northwest past Stradbroke West to Willung. It then crosses over to Flynns Creek and extends towards the Loy Yang Power Station in the Latrobe Valley.
Based on VicGrids’ most up-to-date transmission study area as of March this year, impacted areas will include Giffard, Giffard West, Seaspray, Darriman, Willung, Hiamdale, and Flynn’s Creek.
Better Transmission Gippsland, which has been vocal in its opposition to overhead powerlines, said landholders were left reeling after receiving letters of notification.
Local to Giffard, chair of Better Transmission Gippsland, Kirra Bott said, “What concerns me most is that I have been told underground is off the table.”
“To make matters worse, I was also told that there will be more tower lines, most probably in a different corridor. Ultimately looking at future targets there likely to be between three to five in total,” Ms Bott said.
“Those of us who thought we’d dodged a bullet with this letter might want to think again.”
While the final transmission route is yet to be finalised, VicGrid has confirmed the tower lines will go overhead due to costs.
The agency said putting the project underground will cost up to $4.5 billion compared with the estimated $700 million to $1.5 billion for overhead.
Cr McKenzie said VicGrid has “gone against community wishes” by opting to build overhead transmissions.
“When the community has been asked what their preference would be of (overhead) transmission lines versus underground, some 80 per cent advised underground,” he said.
Calling on council to accept responsibility for raising these concerns, Cr McKenzie said that now is the opportune time to write a letter to key stakeholders as to whether the cost of underground infrastructure can be shared.
“This is the generational change that will impact our communities forever,” Cr McKenzie said.
Mayor Ian Bye said he had written to the successful proponents that received feasibility licences last week, inviting them to begin discussing their proposals with council to ensure the inclusion of the community.
The state government allocated $12.5 million in the State Budget to establishing VicGrid, saying that transmission and renewable energy zones need to be planned carefully. The funding will boost the Victorian Transmission Investment Framework the state government say will ensure local communities are engaged and represented throughout developments.
