Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (23:31): (2818) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Energy and Resources, and tonight I raise an issue regarding offshore wind transmission planning in the electorate of Eastern Victoria and indeed throughout Gippsland and the process used to determine the preferred transmission technology for Victoria’s future energy network. This matter has been raised with me by constituents and community stakeholder groups who recognise that substantial transmission investment will be required as Victoria’s energy system moves and evolves. We know also that Gippsland has powered Victoria for generations and is expected to play a significant role in the future of our state’s energy. VicGrid’s planning now indicates that around 7.5 megawatts of Victoria’s 9-gigawatt offshore wind target could come through Gippsland, yet the current transmission project is designed around an initial connection of approximately 2 gigawatts.

The issue raised with me is not whether Victoria should build new transmission infrastructure; rather, it is whether the long-term transition pathway has been assessed on a whole-of-system approach before the state is effectively locked into a particular approach. I thank community members for coming in to my office and sitting down with me and sharing their concerns and their research. It is considered research, and they are not in the individual; there are multiple members. They are seeking an assurance that any comparison of transmission options considers not only the upfront construction costs but also future expansion requirements, operating and maintenance costs, reliability, resilience, delivery risks and community impact over the life of the asset. There is also interest in understanding how the government assessed the relative merits of overhead or underground transmission options, as costs appear to have been a key factor in the decision. Costs are an important factor in the decision; however, stakeholders are seeking greater transparency around the analysis and the assumptions that informed this outcome.

These are reasonable questions, and decisions made today will help shape Victoria’s future energy network for decades to come, so the action I seek is for the minister to release an independently reviewed comparison of overhead and underground transmission options for Gippsland’s long-term offshore wind network, including future expansion requirements, life-cycle costs and resilience-delivery risks before major transmission pathways are finalised.