Victoria renewable energy zones: Triple coal-power capacity
The Allan government has greenlit a renewable energy expansion across five rural zones that dwarfs Victoria’s entire coal-fired generation by more than 300 per cent.
The Allan government has amped up the industrialisation of rural Victoria, issuing draft orders that allow up to 16.9 gigawatts of solar and wind generated electricity to be pumped into the grid from five renewable energy zones.
The REZ transmission or hosting capacity limit is more than three times the combined generation capacity of the Latrobe Valley’s three coal-fired power stations – Yallourn, Loy Yang A and B.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio issued orders last Friday defining the hosting capacities and boundaries of each onshore REZ, which are out for public consultation until February 22.
The intended transmission hosting capacities listed in the ministerial orders are:
4GW for the Central Highlands REZ
5.2GW for the Gippsland REZ
1.7GW for the North West REZ
3.6GW for the South West REZ
2.4GW for the Western REZ
The minister is yet to issue an order on the Central North REZ, between Bendigo and Benalla, part of which intrudes into Premier Jacinta Allan’s electorate.
A spokesman for the state’s transmission planner, VicGrid, said the hosting capacity in the orders were “the maximum amount of renewable energy that could connect to the grid within that zone, based on what the planned transmission network can carry.
“It includes hosting capacity that is already taken up by existing (renewable) power generation (and) is the maximum amount of energy the network could carry, not a measure of how much development is planned for the zone.”
Kanya farmer Marcia McIntyre, who has led a campaign against the Western REZ, asked: “Why are they (VicGrid) trying to reassure us they’re not going to reach that limit?
“Either they’re lying about industrialising and trashing our landscape or lying about how much capacity they need.”
Just how much solar, wind and battery systems developers build within each REZ will ultimately depend on what they can earn from the electricity market and tax-payer funded subsidies.
Once the zones are declared early next year VicGrid will allocate developer access to each REZ using a competitive tender process, the details of which are yet to be revelaed.
VicGrid Chief Executive Alistair Parker said coordinating development in renewable energy zones would give communities and industry greater certainty, minimise impacts and keep down costs.
“Coal-fired power stations are becoming unreliable and closing down and the cheapest option to replace them is solar and wind generation backed by storage and transmission infrastructure,” he said.
“This is a big change that has the potential to leave a lasting legacy for regional and rural Victoria if it’s well managed and planned.”
