Friday, March 29, 2024

CATEGORY

Power

Community update on Newstead solar farm

The Newstead Community Energy Project (aka solar farm) will be commissioned during the second half of 2024 (date TBC). The inverter, solar panels and most of the tracking system have been installed.

Farmers attack energy fast-track

The state government’s new policy to fast-track renewable energy projects by accelerating planning approvals has been strongly attacked by Victoria’s peak farming body and one of the state’s leading planning experts. The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) said the policy was a slap in the face after years of sham consultation with farming communities, while the RMIT Emeritus Professor of Environment and Planning, Michael Buxton, said it would lead to “terrible decisions”, with wind and solar farms being “placed in the wrong location".

VicGrid study area released

VicGrid has released its study area for the new transmission infrastructure through South Gippsland that will transport energy from offshore wind into the Latrobe Valley (LV) electricity grid. The study area starts about six kilometres from the coast near Giffard and travels north-west past Stradbroke West, to Willung, across to Flynns Creek and on to the Loy Yang power station.

Interstate farmers unite in the face of transmission lines

Victorian and Tasmanian farmer peak bodies have produced a policy for developers who want to build infrastructure, such as transmission lines for renewable energy, across their farmland. They warned that since the year 2000, Australia’s available arable land had been reduced by 15 per cent, much of it lost to infrastructure development and urban sprawl. The policy has been released as Gippsland farmers face plans for pipelines and transmission lines across their land as part of the state government’s energy policy, which aims to link offshore wind farms to the Latrobe Valley energy network.

Experts query wind plans costs and timing

The state government is accelerating planning approvals for renewable projects as several energy experts have predicted that Victoria's wind energy will be more expensive and will take longer to meet targets than the government has estimated. The Premier, Jacinta Allan, last week announced renewable projects will be eligible for an accelerated planning pathway under the Development Facilitation Program (DFP).

Liberals seek nuclear social licence

With the Latrobe Valley a possible site for a nuclear power station, the federal Opposition has upped the argument for nuclear as a possible way for the nation to lower greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining a reliable and cheaper energy supply.

James Lister MP wants answers

Today (Tuesday 19th) in parliament I tabled a question to the Energy Minister Mick de Brenni about what’s going on. What plans discussions has the state government had with Wind Prospects Pty Ltd about renewable energy projects in our back yard?

Power poles

Walk out your front door and look down the street.  If you are in the regions or in suburbia, then you will look at a tall wooden pole that carries the cables that gives you electricity. Have you taken much notice of them?  Probably not, but the pole is native hardwood harvested from a native forest where, through the application of science, it was encouraged to grow that straight.  Timber power poles are selectively harvested from regrowth or working forests.

Going solar suits some but those living near proposed Richmond Valley Solar Farm are not happy

Let’s go solar. Across the world, in Australia and NSW, there is a push for alternative energy including wind and solar power ... IndyNR.com spoke to a resident ... She is opposed to the Richmond Valley Solar Farm. She has many reasons for her opposition including the fire risk of the proposed large BESS.

The future is nearly here with biohub expected to be built by 2025

In years to come Casino could be known not only for its beef industry but for its innovation and sustainability. Visitors may still come to tour the Casino Food Co-op abattoir and packaging centre but there is likely to be great interest in seeing the workings of the biohub next door that creates energy from the nutrient-rich waste at the Co-op site.

Renewables fast-track steam rolls farmers: VFF

The VFF says the Victorian Government’s fast-tracking of renewable energy projects by accelerating planning approvals is a slap in the face after years of sham consultation with farming communities. VFF President Emma Germano said the green-lighting of major renewable projects adds to a poor-track record of consulting landholders set to be impacted and risks further alienating already frustrated farmers across Victoria.

Day of the outages

Sarah Herrmann. Several Wool Bay residents were frustrated by more than 30 momentary power outages ... which reportedly damaged appliances, adding to a steady stream of blackouts for the small township over multiple years ... "The biggest worry we’ve got is that we rely on CPAP machines at night time; medically, we’ve got to have it otherwise we could not wake up": Dave Norton, Wool Bay resident.

Amid widespread transmission line confusion … “VNI West must return to the drawing board”

“Victorian Labor’s attempt to again reboot consultation on transmission lines is an admission consultation has failed abysmally on VNI-West,” Member for Mallee, Dr. Anne Webster, says. The State Government has introduced a Bill to establish VicGrid, claiming the new brand will “modernise the way new energy infrastructure is planned and developed in Victoria while giving communities a voice in the process”.

Grong Grong solar farm developers delighted with progress – almost ready for commissioning

Construction of the Grong Grong Solar Farm near Narrandera is almost completed with new poles installed by HV contractors in preparation for grid connection this month. This will be an intense period of work for the consultants and contractors, who will ensure everything is in place to complete the solar farm and be ready for connection and commissioning.

Snowy project reaches new landmark

The Snowy 2.0 Cooma precast manufacturing facility has hit another significant milestone and completed production of 100,000 of the 130,000 concrete segments needed to line 27 kilometres of tunnels for the pumped-hydro megaproject.

VNI West under scrutiny again

The political dream of net zero requires a complete reversal of Australia’s power grid ... The process for delivering the new power line capacity has been debated, with prominent energy experts calling for the Australian Energy Market Operator and the Victorian Government to scrap plans to build the controversial VNI West transmission line and Western Renewables Link (WRL).

Plans for Delburn

The Delburn Wind Farm developer, Osmi Australia, has allayed speculation that the project would be affected by the federal government's rejection on environmental grounds of the Port of Hastings as a construction site ... Delburn involves the construction of 33 wind turbines each about 250 metres in height on plantation forest land owned by HVP Plantations ... recently deployed new fire detection technology that it said was a first for Australia and the wind farm industry.

Microgrid research will benefit renewable energy needs of country Australia: Charles Sturt University

A Charles Sturt University team is researching the deployment of microgrid projects that aim to meet the energy needs of regional communities in Australia ... The team’s research explores a range of topics relating to microgrid business models, ownership structure and project financing.

Wind farm proposed for Allora region

A number of landowners on the Eastern side of Allora have been approached by Wind Prospect Pty Ltd to discuss plans for turbines in or near their property. The Victorian-based wind-power company is believed to be planning construction of up to 60 wind turbines and more than 30km of high-voltage power lines and towers in the Allora area.

Gridlock over transmission lines

Confusion reigns amongst farmers and other landowners in southern Gippsland as the state government's new kid on the bloc, VicGrid, has pushed aside their negotiations with existing companies over the various transmission projects that will be built across the region under the government's renewable energy policy. This comes across the background of the blackouts caused by storms last week that brought down transmission lines and electricity poles that led to the closure of Loy Yang A power station.

Victorians pay price for failure of power supplies

Widespread power blackouts affecting thousands of households and businesses across Victoria again highlight the vulnerability of the state’s energy supplies under the State Government. “Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has been repeatedly warned about outages yet has sat idle. We have now seen the consequences of Labor’s incompetence and Victorians are paying the price as they go without power,” said Member for Southern Metropolitan Region, David Davis.

Govt must support blackout affected businesses

“The State Government must provide financial assistance to thousands of Victorian businesses impacted by mass power outages,” writes the Opposition ... Half-a-million homes and businesses suffered power outages on Tuesday and thousands are still waiting to have their power restored.

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