One of Victoria’s most hotly contested transmission upgrades, a proposed high-voltage line connecting the state’s grid with New South Wales, has joined the queue for state environmental approval, less than two months out from the state election and six weeks after the Coalition opposition pledged to scrap it.
Victoria’s state transmission and renewables planning authority VicGrid said on Friday that the Environment Effects Statement (EES) for the proposed VNI West project is being released for public exhibition, opening the controversial project up to public review and submissions.
VicGrid says both the EES – Victoria’s most comprehensive environmental impact assessment process – and the draft Planning Scheme Amendment for VNI West will be on public exhibition for six weeks from Monday October 05 to midnight on Monday November 16.
Submissions made during this time will form part of the state planning minister’s formal assessment of the project, which the state Coalition opposition in August officially pledged to “cancel” – a move that has is also being promised by the far right One Nation party.
VNI West has courted controversy over its scope – the 240 km double-circuit line with a 70 metre-wide easement is proposed to cut a path though the state’s north west, intersecting the properties of more than 200 farmers and landholders along the way.
The Victorian side of the project has also been controversial for its cost, which has increased from $3.6 billion to an estimated $7.6 billion, and whether this blow-out – and the impact on communities – can be justified for what the project delivers.
State Liberal leader Jess Wilson has said Victoria “doesn’t need more unnecessary poles and wires,” but data shows some 8.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind projects are seeking to connect along VNI West, and the new line is also intended to connect with the Western Renewables Link in Victoria.
In an interview with Renew Economy in early September, former Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio said that scrapping VNI West and other projects designed to support renewables would result in a “massive” increase to electricity bills and increased dependence on gas.
D’Ambrosio also pointed out that the original agreement for the project was signed off with the former Morrison Coalition government, when Angus Taylor was the federal energy minister. Taylor now heads the federal Coalition. (See Taylor’s media release endorsing “cheap and reliable energy in Victoria”.
“We did a joint press conference in one of those rare occurrences” with Taylor, she said.
VNI West program director Mick Douge said on Friday that the EES exhibition period was an important opportunity for people to learn more about the project, review the EES findings and provide feedback.
He says technical specialists have spent the past two years conducting studies across the project area to understand existing conditions, assess potential impacts and identify measures to avoid, minimise or manage them through the EES.
“We encourage anyone with an interest in the project to explore the Environment Effects Statement in a way that best works for them,” Douge says.
“From 5 October, people will be able to access information online or at one of our regional offices, join a webinar, use our visualisation tools and videos, or speak directly with the project team and technical specialists at one of our community sessions.”
