Crazy to be putting useless turbines here

THE State Government has given its first clear indication of where it intends to locate the renewable energy infrastructure it needs to replace almost 5000Mw of electricity generating capacity we lose when they close the Latrobe Valley down, starting in 2028.

And make no mistake, their map of the geographic areas to be considered for the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, released last Tuesday, clearly identifies a large chunk of South Gippsland and Bass Coast as being the most suitable area in the state for hosting wind turbines and transmission towers.

Initially, the state government’s renewable energy planning authority, VicGrid, is looking at what the state will need in the next 15 years, but in 2027 it will publish a second plan with a 25-year view, to be revised every four years.

In other words, if they do designate the Tier 1 site they’ve prioritised for investigation between Kongwak, Ellinbank, Nyora and Korumburra as the best place to put turbines, they’ll come back time and time again to meet future needs.

If you take the 52 turbines that are spinning down at Bald Hills near Tarwin Lower as an example, with a capacity of just 106.6 Mw but typically generating only 24% of that annually, so 22.5Mw, you’ll need 100 such wind farms just to cover the loss of Loy Yang A (2215Mw), set to close in 2035.

So, if you don’t want the highly productive, closely-settled, glorious green rolling hills of South Gippsland and Bass Coast to be covered with massive wind turbines and high-voltage transmission towers, as far as the eye can see, you’ll need to act now.

And, outrageously, you’ve been given only a month to do it!

What you need to do is search for Vic Transmission Plan on the Engage Vic website and complete the ‘Guiding Principles Feedback’ form, the ‘Study Area Feedback’ form and consider uploading a submission.

The principles feedback closes on Sunday, August 25 and the study area feedback closes on Monday, September 30.

How disgraceful is that, to be giving the community just one month to have their say on the most important decision in a century? Or maybe that is the government’s plan.