Community members gathered in the Moulamein Club on Wednesday to share information and discuss what they believe is an unsatisfactory time frame to provide feedback on the 500kV VNI West power line development. 

The proposed new 500kV double circuit transmission line connecting the high voltage electricity grids in New South Wales and Victoria will see 70m-tall transmission towers erected along the path from Kerang to Murrabit up to Moulamein and across to Jerilderie.   

While Transgrid has extended the feedback period for an additional five weeks, it was the consensus of the meeting that community members were still in a process of discovery and lamented that the power companies probably had 18 months to put together their Draft Corridor Reports, and still missed basic information, such as areas of extensive flooding.  

The project is part of the Victorian State Government’s push to reach its target of 95 per cent renewable energy by 2035 and the broader Albanese government’s target of 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

The project has drawn criticism of experts in the field, a submission by the Energy Grid Alliance (EGA) labelling the VNI West a “monumental mistake” and a “natural disaster magnet” in a detailed and scathing submission opposing its development.

Submission authors, Professor Simon Bartlett AM and Professor Bruce Mountain, argue: 

• VNI-WRL will drastically increase the exposure of Victoria’s power system to weather and terrorism risk.
• Recovering the capital outlay in VNI-WRL will increase transmission charges in Victoria by at least 70 per cent. The ongoing operation and maintenance charge will increase transmission charges by a further 25 per cent.
• The development of VNI-WRL will delay the transition to renewable electricity in Victoria.
• VNI-WRL lays the foundations for massive additional 500kV transmission developments in west, central and northern Victoria.
• VNI-WRL makes no perceptible difference to the dispatch of Snowy 2.0. Instead, according to AVP, the bulk (75 per cent) of the benefit of VNI-WRL lies in the substitution of pumped hydro generation in Victoria by batteries in NSW.
• Better alternatives exist in rapidly developing spare transmission capacity in Gippsland.

A renewable energy zone for Gippsland, which currently hosts an existing electrical distribution network, has effectively been blocked by ‘hard’ land use limits, REZ build limits, transmission limits and hosting penalties that effectively stonewalls the Gippsland REZ.

Opponents of the development also point to the idea of undergrounding the project due to the limitations of fighting fires around high voltage lines, the loss of critical vegetation and visual amenity, and the higher maintenance costs and outages from overhead lines.

There are examples both locally and globally. The Marinus Link developer is burying 80 kilometres of the link from Tasmania, where it comes onshore in Gippsland, Victoria, and a similar distance of the link from the proposed Star of the South wind project will also be buried in Gippsland. Germany is burying the 700-kilometre Suedlink from the country’s north to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Across the Atlantic, a 540-kilometre transmission link between Quebec’s hydropower stations and New York City is also being buried.

The NSW government inquiry into the costs and benefits of undergrounding is due to report its findings by August 31, 2023.

At the July Gannawarra Shire Council meeting, Cr Garner Smith put forward a motion that Gannawarra Shire Council requests a report on council’s support for the VNI West proposal at the next council meeting, including:

• The potential impact on residents local to the proposal,
• The relationship to current and proposed renewable energy projects in Gannawarra,
• The benefits to Gannawarra community,
• The benefits to Gannawarra council,
• The potential PILOR payments for Gannawarra council,
• Planning and other processes involving the Gannawarra Shire Council.

In speaking to his motion, Cr Smith said, “I want to know what’s in it for us, what’s in it for the Gannawarra community, because, quite frankly, I suspect not enough.

“I remember hearing quotes like that it’s a game changer and the biggest development for the district since irrigation. Really, I just didn’t agree. I didn’t believe it at all and I want to see tangible benefits.

“At the present, the organisation is actually supporting this proposal. The justification is it’s in our council plan. Okay, that’s fine, but as a councillor, I haven’t been asked. As a councillor, I have not passed an opinion. I said I haven’t voted for it.

Gannawarra Shire Council, like many other councils, may hold pecuniary interests in support of the development of projects such as VNI West due to PILOR. The framework allows for councils and electricity generators to negotiate annual payments. It applies to all coal, gas, hydro and wind generators, and recently, solar has been added as a defined energy source, so that councils can use the methodology to estimate payments for all solar generators coming online now and in the future.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 3 August 2023.

Related stories: VNI West, Transgrid Moulamein meeting, High Voltage Transmission Lines-VNI West Kerang Meeting, VNI West: power line angst