The federal government has sought to head off a growing backlash from communities affected by proposed high-voltage transmission lines by launching a review of how projects are planned.
Key points:
- The federal government has launched a review of transmission line planning and approvals
- The review comes amid growing angst about transmission projects in affected communities
- Authorities say an extra 10,000km of high-voltage lines are needed for the clean energy transition
Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen acknowledged that approval processes for transmission projects needed to be improved to ensure communities in the path of lines were better heard and received "better dividends".
The acknowledgement comes amid deepening grassroots opposition to several big-ticket power lines required for the transition towards renewable energy.
Among them are VNI West, a $3.6 billion line between Victoria and New South Wales, and HumeLink, the $3.3 billion cable needed to fully connect the huge Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project to the grid.
Mr Bowen said he could sympathise with communities worried about the effects of the transmission links.
But he argued the projects were essential to Australia's efforts to decarbonise the electricity system and, ultimately, the broader economy.
"I certainly understand that transmission lines are in your face, if you like," Mr Bowen said.
"They're a big piece of infrastructure in very beautiful parts of Australia.
"So I certainly understand community concerns.
"They are also absolutely vital to our energy grid and absolutely vital to making our energy grid, in time, zero emissions."
Divide over projects deepens
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which runs Australia's major power systems, has used its blueprint for the energy transition to call for a big expansion of the country's transmission networks.
In its central plan, the agency said more than 10,000km of new high-voltage lines would be
required to connect all of the wind, solar and back-up power being built to replace retiring coal-fired plants.
This was because Australia's best renewable energy resources were often nowhere near Australia's coal hubs, meaning new or upgraded lines were required to exploit them.
But the plan is coming under increasing pressure, with several transmission projects facing delays and potential cost blowouts in the face of grassroots resistance.
Academics at the Victoria Energy Policy Centre have also taken aim at the plan, claiming earlier this year that VNI West risked becoming a "monumental mistake" that would cost consumers dearly.
The centre's Bruce Mountain and Simon Bartlett said VNI West, along with the Western Renewables Link, were being justified using flawed analysis and overlooked the potential for storage options.
What's more, the pair said high voltage power lines would aggravate the risks of bushfires and could leave the grid vulnerable in the event of a failure.
AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman alluded to some of the challenges at a recent event at which he said the existing transmission network was becoming increasingly gridlocked.
Last month, in a bid to overcome local angst about HumeLink, New South Wales Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said she would look at the feasibility of putting the line underground.
'No transmission, no transition'
Mr Bowen said that although running a line underground "can be a solution in various places for various issues", it was unlikely to be feasible at the scale required by the transition.
The Minister said burying transmission projects was expensive and came with its own environmental problems.
Either way, he argued the need for new transmission lines was overwhelming and other technologies such as batteries were unlikely to change this equation.
"There's no transition without transmission," Mr Bowen said.
"And we need to get the energy around our grid.
"Storage has a huge role to play – don't get me wrong.
"You need policies to ensure that when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining we're storing energy just like we store water when the rain isn't falling.
"The rain doesn't fall all the time either but we all drink water every day because we store.
"We can do that with renewable energy as well.
"But just as there are dams, there are big pipelines of water moving water around our country.
"It's the same principle."
The Minister insisted the government's plans to boost Australia's renewable electricity rate to 82 per cent by 2030 could still be achieved despite the obstacles in the way of expanding the transmission network.
Difficulties no excuse, Bowen says
To that end, Mr Bowen said the review of transmission planning and investment by Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner Andrew Dyer would recommend improvements to the way projects were handled.
"I understand it's difficult," he said.
"But we do need transmission. And anybody who pretends that that's not the case is having themselves on.
"Just because it's difficult doesn't mean that we don't have to get on with it, but [we want to] bring communities with us with better engagement and better community dividends than has been the case historically in Australia."
Mr Bowen said the review was expected to take six months to complete.