Wednesday, 2 August 2023

Electricity infrastructure

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (18:23): (358) My adjournment is to the Minister for Energy and Resources and seeks that she provide the business case and current project costs for the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI) West project. Residents across the region have contacted me to raise concerns about this project. Like the Commonwealth Games, the Labor government may be rolling out a plan without first doing their homework on how much it will cost.

The state government has promised to generate 95 per cent of electricity from renewable sources and have 6.3 gigawatts of battery storage connected to the grid by 2035. The minister has sought to fast-track the development of VNI West – a proposed new high-capacity overhead transmission line. According to news reports, the project is expected to cost $3.25 billion. I trust the state government’s business case for this project put a cost on the social, environmental, economic and mental health impacts of this project on local communities. In addition to the cost of constructing 80-metre-high towers – the size of the MCG lights – over 400 kilometres and compensation costs to landholders, there is the cost of declining land values and the loss of prime agricultural land, the cost of lost tourism to the region and the cost to the community that is harder to measure.

As our coal-fired power stations retire, the government expect to fill the supply gap with renewables. The VNI West project is due to be completed by 2030, yet Hazelwood has already closed, Yallourn is due to close in 2028 and Loy Yang A by 2035. The Star of the South, Australia’s most advanced offshore wind project, has not even started construction and hopes to be operational by 2030. The first Big Battery to be built on an Australian coal site recently opened at the site of the former Hazelwood power station. It is just 150 megawatts and has the capacity to power about 75,000 homes for 1 hour during the evening peak. That is 75,000 homes for 1 hour – greater Melbourne has over 2 million homes.

Labor’s latest gas ban will drive up further demand for electricity, and Victorians will pay higher energy bills. Labor have been in power for a long time, but it appears they do not know how to manage this in Victoria. Instead of securing Victoria’s energy generation, they seem to want to disrupt it. I am concerned that in the minister’s rush to keep the lights on, good planning has gone out the window. Victorians are already paying record energy bills. The Essential Services Commission has confirmed Victorians will suffer a further increase of up to 25 per cent in power prices. The state government provided the $250 power saving bonus to win votes, but this short-term fix has not provided more secure and reliable energy in this state. Labor’s poor management of Victoria’s energy production is driving up power bills and putting families and businesses under pressure.