Labor puts key but contested transmission line on hold until after state election, pending cost review

The Victoria Labor government has put a key but contested transmission line on hold until after the state election, in the second major change to the state’s infrastructure rollout in a week amid major community pushback.

The state government had earlier announced that the environmental effects statement (EES) for the proposed transmission line linking Melbourne with the state’s western renewable energy zones had been approved, but on Tuesday premier Ben Carroll said the project would be put on hold until the end of the year, pending a cost review.

The Western Renewables Link (WRL) is one of two controversial 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines – along with VNI West – set to shore up both generation capacity inside the state and create the second link from Victoria into New South Wales (NSW).

However, the 190 km transmission line has faced pushback from vocal members of some local communities, and has become a major focus of the political campaign leading up to the November state election, with the Coalition and One Nation promising to cancel VNI West.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, after new energy minister Jaclyn Symes had appeared at a CEDA luncheon event, Carroll promised an “immediate, independent assessment into the costs” of WRL that would be finished by the end of the year.

“This project was planned almost 10 years ago and Victorian consumers deserve updated, transparent costings,” Carroll said in a statement.

“If we can save money on the costs of building, we can help reduce the cost of living.”

The original cost was $479 million in 2019. But that has surged to $1.52 billion as inflation and planning delays have sent costs surging.

Carroll, who is under pressure from a surging Coalition ahead of the November election, says no compulsory acquisitions of land will happen while the review is underway. He said that Symes had told Vicgrid, the organisation now responsible for the roll out of transmission, about this.

The decision was welcomed even by state Labor MPs in the contested area. Martha Haylett, the member for Ripon, said she had raised her objections to the project with three successive premiers.

“I am glad that Ben Carroll has listened” Haylett posted on Facebook. “He is pausing land acquisitions and conducting
an independent review into the Western Renewables Link.

“I’ve said from day one that this project does not have social licence in our community, and that has not changed. I’m hopeful this review will hear the objections of our community.”

WRL was supposed to be finished by 2029, according to project builder AusNet’s website, but that was based on construction starting this year. The project was actually supposed to have begun construction last year, and is a key part of the Australian Energy Market Operator’s multi decade blueprint, the Integrated System Plan.

In a statement, AusNet said it “acknowledges” the Premier’s announcement of an independent assessment into costs of the WRL Link, and will support the review.

“Our focus is on delivering value for money for Victorian electricity customers as the State transitions away from coal-fired power, while making sure landholders and communities share in the benefits of the project,” it said.

“AusNet is contracted by VicGrid to develop and deliver the electricity transmission project, which will connect wind and solar energy generators in western Victoria to the grid, powering more than one million homes across the state.”

The pause on the project follows another decision by the Carroll government to abandon one of the state’s proposed renewable energy zones, because it said it would not have enough capacity to support new wind and solar projects.

WRL is supposed to link Bulgana in the west – and tapping into a host of planned renewable energy projects – to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west. It was deemed a controlled action under the EPBC Act in 2020.

The state planning minister’s assessment report, says the impacts on threatened species are “acceptable” when paired with mitigation strategies.

“On balance, I consider the residual impacts on MNES [matters of national environmental significance] will be acceptable with implementation of the appropriate environmental management and offsetting, as outlined in this assessment,” the report says.

“I support amendments to mitigation measures as recommended by the IAC and have provided further recommendations in my assessment to assist in achieving acceptable outcomes for MNES.”

The report notes WRL will have a significant environmental impact on grey box eucalyptus grassy woodlands, derived native grasslands of South-eastern Australia, natural temperate grassland of the Victorian Volcanic Plain, white box-yellow box-Blakely’s red gum grassy woodland and derived native grassland, golden sun moth, swift parrot, southern greater glider and the Victorian grassland earless dragon.

But the minister’s statement also agreed with a number of advisors tapped for the EES who said many of these impacts can be managed with design changes and insights from the federal EPBC process.

Nexa Advisory head and network expert Stephanie Bashir says the next hurdle, the EPBC, should be “a no brainer”, given WRL is a critical project in Victoria.

“Victoria needs to stay the course and accelerate the build out of the replacement generation and transmission otherwise Victorian households and businesses will needlessly pay higher bills,” Bashir told Renew Economy.

Note: Additional reporting from Giles Parkinson. Story has been updated from the original to incorporate Premier Carroll’s comments.

See also: Coalition vows to “go after gas” as it suggests “massive corruption” in renewables build-out

and: New energy minister stays course on renewables, says equivocating will send projects to the “scrap heap”

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