Victorian Transmission Plan: seven new REZs and a 500kV Gippsland powerline

VicGrid’s draft Victorian Transmission Plan, identifies seven new renewable energy zones and a new Gippsland transmission line.

VicGrid's seven proposed renewable energy zones announced on Friday.

Victoria’s long-awaited 15-year transmission plan has mapped out seven proposed wind and solar renewable energy zones, plus a new 500kV transmission line running 60km from Driffield to Woodside.

Landholders are already firing up over the plan, with Wallaloo and Gre Gre District Alliance member Marcia McIntyre saying she was devastated by the news her farm would be included in the Grampians-Wimmers REZ.

“I do not want to see the industrialisation of our beautiful area for a stupid energy policy, based on intermittent, subsidised energy.”

VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker defended the selection of the draft REZs, saying the agency had taken on a vast amount of community feedback and avoided dairying and irrigation areas.

All up VicGrid estimates the state will need build another 17.5 gigawatts of renewable generation by 2040, including 5.8GW of onshore and 9GW of offshore wind capacity, plus 2.7GW of solar power.

It means another 970 onshore wind turbines, 500 much larger offshore turbines and the installation of 5.2 million new solar panels covering about 4000ha.

VicGrid estimates Victoria will need the equivalent of four more Golden Plains wind farms (the biggest in the state) to meet its renewable energy needs.

More transmission lines are also on the cards, although most follow existing easements.

The exception is VicGrid’s Driffield-Woodside link, which will run be used in parallel with the Loy Yang to Giffard 500kV line that is already under development.

VicGrid is also proposing to build a 500kV tieline, linking the two lines from a new terminal station at Giffard to another at Woodside, which are designed to feed offshore wind generation into the grid.

Mr Parker said “Victoria has already taken big steps in the transition to renewable energy with 40 per cent of the state’s power coming from renewables”.

Ultimately the government has set a target of 95 per cent of Victoria’s renewable generation coming from renewables by 2035.

Asked what benefits the renewable rollout would deliver to regional communities Mr Parker said VicGrid had been discussing community benefit plans that create opportunities for real economic development, not just short-term construction jobs.

“For their own good they (renewable developers) need good roads, telecommunications and housing,” he said. “So, there’s the opportunity to add some value and leave a legacy for the community (from these works).”

The draft transmission plan, which is out for public consultation until June 24, has dismissed Syncline Energy’s proposal to build a 256km direct current underground cable, from Calder Park to Charlton, as an alternative to the Western Renewable Link and half VNI West’s overhead lines.

Mr Parker said “the current Syncline proposal presents significant technical, regulatory, construction and cost challenges that would impact the delivery of new renewable energy projects and increase consumer energy bills.