Route for first offshore wind transmission link mapped out amid scramble to meet 2032 target

Victoria has set out the preferred route for the new electricity transmission line needed to deliver electricity generated by Australia’s first offshore wind farms to the main grid, located in the state’s former coal hub.

Building the new grid infrastructure to host what could, by 2040, amount to 9 gigawatts of new renewable energy generated out at sea, is one of the key tasks facing Victoria as it races to meet its initial targets of at least 2 GW of offshore wind by 2032 and 4 GW by 2035.

Efforts to bed down the design of that new transmission link come as the Labor government embarks on the nation’s first ever offshore wind auction process – and as it comes under fire from the Coalition opposition for the lack of more tangible progress towards its stated targets.

The 60 km route being is being put forward by the state government as the “preferred” option, and starting point for design work and a final plan, including where new transmission towers will sit.

The proposed route will be opened up to public consultation early next year, via an environment effects statement (EES), ahead of early works set to begin later in the year.

The proposed 200 metre-wide transmission corridor runs between the Loy Yang power station switchyard and the proposed new terminal station at Giffard. The shore crossing is yet to be determined. 

State energy minister Jaclyn Symes says the route was shaped with help from landowners and locals. 

“We’ll keep working with them as we build an offshore wind industry,” Symes said in a statement on Monday. “Gippsland has powered Victoria for generations. Offshore wind will keep it an energy powerhouse, creating thousands of jobs and attracting billions in investment.”

The state government is forecasting offshore wind to drive some $20 billion worth of investment in Victoria and $3.1 billion to Gippsland alone.

Transmission in Victoria has become a hot political issue after the Coalition vowed to cancel the VNI West interconnector to New South Wales (NSW), and pause and review the Western Renewables Link (WRL) and overarching plan for the state grid.

On the same day that WRL received its major state environmental approval, premier Ben Carroll appeared to throw his energy minister under the bus by putting the project to a cost review. 

The review is due to be finished by the end of the year. The project itself is unlikely to be paused in the interim, however. 

Victoria is aiming to have 2 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind in place by 2032 and as much as 9 GW by 2040, and is slowly moving to build the supporting infrastructure. 

It launched the promised underwriting auction in August, which will be supported by the new system to handle national government energy underwriting, the Electricity Services Entry Mechanism (ESEM) which is now on an accelerated timeline to get done.

But it also needs a port, proposed to be at Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula, and finished plans for transmission which could be trickier than expected. 

Offshore wind proponents fear the Coalition’s plan to mandate a 2 km setback for renewable energy projects could also apply to the transmission cables coming in from the ocean, making current routes to the future Giffard substation impossible. 

And while Gippsland generally has proven more supportive of transitional energy projects than some other parts of the state, this specific transmission line still has push-back from a small pressure group called Better Transmission Gippsland.

It supports the transmission project, but wants the line from Giffard to go underground. 

Although not nearly as noisy as the large and intimidating forces arranging themselves in western Victoria, the group is actively trying to influence the design of the proposed transmission project. 

“Our understanding from discussions with VicGrid is that it has not done a full cost comparison of the overhead and underground pathways for the whole Gippsland build-out,” said Better Transmission Gippsland chair Kirra Bott in a statement last week. 

“Show us what an underground pathway would cost if it was planned from the beginning for the transmission system Gippsland will ultimately be asked to deliver, including the opportunity to provide for future capacity during the first build.”

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