Victoria open to Marinus Link, for now at least

The Victorian government says it does not oppose Marinus Link, but sees other energy projects as higher priorities.

Lily D'Ambrosio, Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change, speaks to the media at Parliament House in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

The Victorian government says it is not opposed to Albanese government plans to invest in the $3.5bn, 1500 megawatt “Marinus Link” interconnector between Tasmania and the mainland, but sees other energy projects as higher priorities.

Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen last week told The Weekend Australian he was engaged in “very constructive” talks with his Tasmanian counterpart, Guy Barnett, about using Labor’s $20bn Rewiring the Nation program to progress the stalled Morrison government project.

Asked to respond to the developments on Monday, Victorian Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said upgrading trans­mission links was “a vital priority, not just here in Victoria but across the entire National Electricity Market, to ensure we all have a reliable energy grid into the future.”

However, she said, Victoria’s priority was the “KerangLink” interconnector that runs between Kerang, in Victoria’s northwest, and southern NSW.

The Andrews and Morrison governments announced the first stage of KerangLink in Nov­ember 2020, agreeing to jointly underwrite early works with the intention of having the 1800MW project delivered by 2027.

Ms D’Ambrosio also indicated on Monday that offshore wind development was her state’s key energy policy focus.

“Our nation-leading offshore wind targets are already driving significant investment interest and will create thousands of jobs in clean energy, driving down power bills and emissions as we deliver net zero by 2050,” she said.

The Victorian Offshore Wind Policy Directions Paper includes procuring projects that will generate at least two gigawatts of offshore wind online by 2032k, 4GW by 2035 and 9GW by 2040.

Marinus Link project costs will have to be allocated between jurisdictions for the initiative to proceed, meaning Victoria could ultimately reverse in-principle support because of the expense.