Gippsland connector: transmission lines to carve up 50km of farmland

More than 50kms of new 330kV and 550kV transmission lines will be built across Gippsland farmers’ land. See the map.

More than 50kms of new 330kV and 550kV transmission lines will be built across Gippsland farmers’ land to feed the power from offshore wind farms.

The Allan Government will carve up more than 50kms of Gippsland farmland with 330 kV and 500 kV overhead transmission lines, to feed the power from offshore wind farms into the Latrobe Valley grid.

The government’s renewable energy zone planner, VicGrid, released details of the route today. It will run 6kms underground, from Bass Strait, after which overhead lines will be used to connect into the Loy Yang Power Station.

VicGrid transmission corridor connection area of interest (green) in which 330kV and 550kV transmission lines will be built to feed offshore wind farm electricity into the Latrobe Valley grid.

Local farmers, such as wool grower Steve Harrison, are already asking why the new transmission lines cannot simply follow the existing Bass Link transmission easement, rather than cutting a new corridor through their properties.

Mr Harrison said he and other landholders had only just been told about the route and were not due to meet representatives of VicGrid again until Tuesday.

VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker said the study area and the associated connection hub area had been developed following consultation with local landowners, communities and regional stakeholders as well as by technical work carried out over the course of last year.

He said today’s public release of the study area follows a mail-out to affected landholders over the last week, with VicGrid making every effort to contact all owners and residents of property within the area before a public announcement.

“These are difficult decisions and communities have been thoughtful and constructive in sharing their views on the issues that are important to them,” Mr Parker said.

“We are committed to genuinely engaging with and supporting locals and to making sure affected communities see real benefits from this project.”

VicGrid reported that multiple combinations of technologies were investigated, including fully undergrounding the transmission line.

But, after careful analysis, fully undergrounding was ruled out as an option due to

challenges including cost, engineering complexity, procurement and timing.

VicGrid’s analysis found an overhead line is estimated to cost between $700 million and $1.5 billion, while undergrounding is estimated to cost between $2 billion and $4.5 billion.

The federal government is currently assessing feasibility licence applications from offshore wind proponents in Gippsland and has recently declared a second offshore wind area off the Victorian coast in the Southern Ocean region.

VicGrid will now take time to assess the implications of the Southern Ocean announcement and the area that has been identified.

Information on VicGrid’s decision-making can be found here and anyone can register for community information on the project at the Engage Victoria website.