High-voltage transmission lines will go through areas such as Pyramid Hill and Patho on their way to crossing the Murray River between Gunbower and Echuca..
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano has slammed the state government for a lack of consultation surrounding the $3.2 billion Victoria-NSW Interconnector West (VNI West) project.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
High-voltage powerlines, roughly 60-80 metres high with an easement of 100m wide, will chart a path through areas such as Pyramid Hill and Patho on their way to crossing the Murray River between Gunbower and Echuca.
The VNI West project is being overseen by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and the Victorian Government.
AEMO’s analysis said the construction of the 500kV powerline, which runs from Bulgana, north of Ararat, through to Dinawan, near Jerilderie, would have “comparatively little impact on high potential agricultural land”.
Deadline: VFF president Emma Germano says farmers affected by the project have until Wednesday to provide feedback, a short time frame considering the magnitude of the impacts on agricultural land.
Photo by
Geoff Adams
Ms Germano said farmers affected by the project had until Wednesday to provide feedback, a short time frame considering the magnitude of the impacts on agricultural land.
“The Victorian Government must explain to farmers why they are being forced to endure needless anxiety and fear over having their land carved up by powerlines that may provide no benefit to the state,” Ms Germano said.
“Farmers are white hot with anger over how they are being treated with utter disrespect in this process. They have every right to be.
“The Victorian Government has failed to properly plan for the transition to renewable energy whilst imposing its targets on the people and economy of Victoria and farmers are being forced to wear the cost.
“We must get this transition to renewables right. The consequences of trampling over farmers’ rights will be a double whammy of skyrocketing food and electricity prices for all Victorians.”
According to AEMO estimates, Victorian farmers who are required to host the powerlines on their land would be compensated for a total of 25 years with an annual payment of $8000 per kilometre.
The price in NSW is slightly higher at $10,000 per kilometre.
Professors Bruce Mountain and Simon Bartlett AM have lodged a submission with AEMO expressing their concerns over the VNI-West project.
"AEMO’s preferred option, if developed, will be the biggest single expense in the Victorian transmission system in more than 50 years and the biggest mistake in transmission planning in living memory,“ the submission states.
Key concerns around the project raised by the professors included:
• Cost;
• State’s susceptibility to statewide blackouts through exposure to natural disasters and terrorism;
• Cause needless damage to local communities, the individuals and environment; and
• Waste existing transmission capacity from the Latrobe Valley to Melbourne.
Prof Mountain is the director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre at Victoria University and Prof Bartlett was previously a member of the National Electricity Market’s Reliability Panel and Powerlink chief operating officer.
“(We) conclude that the development of WRL-VNI will be a monumental mistake,” the Professors said.
Despite the detractors, the Victorian Government is pressing on with the multi-billion-dollar project.
Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the project would assist in the reliability of power supply.
“As ageing coal-fired generators retire and become increasingly unreliable, Victoria is enabling a once-in-a-generation transformation of our clean energy grid and delivering thousands of jobs along the way,” she said.
Nationals Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad said the change to the planned route had left a swathe of rural communities in limbo.
“Last August, it was announced that the Kerang Link was the preferred option but now we find a completely new option has been thrown into the mix, with minimal consultation with councils and residents,” Ms Broad said.
The original preferred route would have seen the project follow the existing powerline easement from Bendigo, through Prairie to Kerang.
The new plan follows a totally different footprint from Bulgana, between Ararat and Stawell, towards St Arnaud and across through Boort and Pyramid Hill.
“This is a complete change of direction for this multi-billion-dollar project,” she said.
“Some locals believe the government has simply taken the path of least resistance on the issue.”
Another component of the state’s long-term energy plan is the $3.5 billion Marinus Link, which features two power cables running between Tasmania and Victoria.
The 750 megawatt cables, which run from North-West Tasmania and connect with the Latrobe Valley, will take excess supply from the Victorian energy grid and store it in the Apple Isle by mid-2028.
“Victoria has made significant investments in batteries,” Prof Mountain said.
“It would be much more efficient for the storage to be in Victoria, instead of Tasmania.”
Among the grid-scale batteries given the green light across the state is the Koorangie Energy Storage System, near Kerang.
Currently in the development phase, the new lithium-ion battery will be connected to AusNet’s 220kV transmission network and provide system strength to the Murray River Renewable Energy Zone.
Farmers keen to have a say on the project can visit www.vff.org.au/campaign/renewable-energy-and-transmission-development/
