VicGrid targets west: More transmission lines, solar and wind farms

The government has earmarked western Victoria as the state’s primary renewable energy zone. See the areas that are to be impacted.

VicGrid has dumped Australian Energy Market Operator plans for six renewable energy zones in Victoria, prioritising developments in the state’s west instead.

The Allan Labor government has earmarked western Victoria as the state’s primary renewable energy zone, to be carved up with new transmission lines, wind turbines and solar farms.

The government’s renewable energy planner, VicGrid, released a draft map and guidelines this week that prioritise renewable development across a vast area of the state’s west, from Boundary Bend on the Murray River to Horsham and across to St Arnaud and Echuca, plus a second zone that peppers the southwest.

VicGrid has prioritised solar, wind, battery and transmission line developments in Victoria’s west.

VicGrid’s priority renewable energy zones are radically different to the six the Australian Energy Market Operator identified for development across the entire state in 2020.

Unlike AEMO, VicGrid’s draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP) guidelines ignore development of Victoria’s northeast and scale-back Gippsland’s onshore developments, despite both zones straddling existing high capacity transmission lines.

VicGrid has instead prioritised developments in areas surrounding the yet to be built 500kV Victoria-NSW Interconnector West transmission line at a cost of $3.25 billion, plus other 220kV lines that are yet to be built in the west and southwest.

VicGrid says its 2025 VTP will “offer high opportunities for renewable energy development and lower overall constraints, which reflect the potential impact or disturbance from development, across the whole of Victoria”.

The most suitable tier one areas identified by VicGrid will be further narrowed down, based on feedback from renewable energy developers on where they want to invest and community feedback.

Regional Victorian Power Alliance chair Vicki Johnson said it was clear that “rather than the government and community determining where transmission lines go, it would be industry that effectively makes that decision”.

Farmers are incensed by the map and guidelines, arguing the 44-page document ignores the value of agricultural land and makes just one mention of farming.

Gooroc grain grower and Victorian Farmers Federation spokesman Gerald Feeney said “it’s a political document, not an energy document”.

“It’s designed to impact mainly broadacre agriculture and exploit farmland in the west,” Mr Feeney said.

Gre Gre Village farmer Peter Knights said VicGrid was ignoring protection of the food bowl.

VicGrid’s map also shows large areas of land along the coast and within 100km of Melbourne’s fringe are excluded from wind farm developments, as a result of planning reforms introduced by the Baillieu-Ryan Coalition Government in 2012.

The public has until August 25 to provide feedback on the draft map and guidelines and until September 30 to provide feedback on the map.