Powerlink announces Borumba Woolooga transmission line deviation

On-edge landowners will wake on Friday to find Powerlink has changed its planned path for controversial transmission lines between two rural towns – and there’s winners and losers.

Powerlink announces a slight deviation to its transmission line pathway between Borumba and , hoping to swap a high density area with a lower density area.

Changes to a planned path for a controversial transmission line through a rural town three hours northwest of Brisbane spell both good and bad news for residents at the coalface of the transition to renewable energy.

Since the end of last year, residents throughout the Mary Valley and South Burnett have been on edge, waiting for new updates around the proposed 70m-wide alignment of 500kV transmission lines connecting the 2000MW Borumba dam pumped hydro project to the grid.

In the latest update, the 83km long transmission lines running from Woolooga to Borumba Dam will make a 10km deviation south of Kilkivan, bypassing the southern end of Rossmore Rd, an area of higher residential density.

Instead of the sharp south turn planned, it will follow a softer, more western curve, crossing the northern end of Rossmore Rd and joining its original pathway near Blacksnake Rd.

“One of the things that became really clear through landholder engagement is where the recommended corridor crosses the south of Rossmore Rd, there is a high density of residential dwellings,” Powerlink’s executive general manager Ian Lowry

“What we’re now proposing and putting out for a further engagement is across the north of Rossmore Rd, where we’ve identified the lowest density of residential dwellings.”

Powerlink executive general manager Ian Lowry said there was clear landholder feedback not to go through the southern end of Rossmore Rd. Pictured at the Kilkivan Town Hall on May 3, 2023. Picture: Christine Schindler

Powerlink is now calling for consultation on the corridor deviation with feedback invited by 5pm Friday October 27, 2023, a statement from the company said.

The final selection of the Borumba to Woolooga transmission line corridor is expected to be released on Thursday, November 30, 2023.

There has been no changes to the announcement of the Borumba to Halys transmission line, still due on September 28, 2023.

For Katy McCallum, a representative of Kilkivan Action Group (a citizen group opposing the lines) the whole process has been “callous”.

This is just going to push other residents “into the throes of depression,” she said.

Kilkivan Action Group representative Katy McCallum claimed the project and Powerlink are wreaking havoc with people’s livelihoods. Pictured at the Kilkivan Town Hall on May 3, 2023. Picture: Christine Schindler

“Powerlink is just wreaking havoc with people’s lives, these people aren’t just landholders, it’s their homes, and it’s not just people’s homes, it’s animal’s homes too.”

Last week Ms McCallum was part of a contingent of Kilkivan residents who went down to Brisbane’s parliament to protest the ‘reckless renewables’ as sentiment grows towards renewable energy infrastructure projects across the country.

The $14.2bn Borumba pumped hydro project, still subject to environmental approvals, has been rapidly moving ahead after a financial green light from the Qld government in July 2023.

Exploratory works have already started, construction is expected to begin in 2026 with first power pencilled for 2030.

Construction on the associated transmission lines, also subject to environmental approvals, are expected to begin in mid-2025 for operation sometime in 2029.

Originally published as Powerlink announces Borumba Woolooga transmission line deviation