IF THERE was one thing that was made abundantly clear by the CEO of VicGrid, Alistair Parker, during a community information webinar last Monday night, July 29, it’s that energy market and power system modelling, not community consultation, will ultimately decide where renewable energy infrastructure is located.
“Keeping the cost of energy low and attracting renewable energy investment to locations where it is most productive…”
“Energy market modelling will be used to identify the most suitable locations to host generation and transmission within the study area from an economic or ‘least cost’ point of view…”
It's all through the literature released by the State Government last week under the banner of ‘Developing the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan’.
And Mr Parker repeated the mantra throughout the online session while also answering more granular questions about accommodating farming operations, how close turbines can be located from homes and where high-voltage towers can be erected.
It's 1km from houses for turbines but no formal setback for transmission lines.
And farming practices? Well, they’ll look at what farm uses can co-exist with renewable energy infrastructure.
But it stands to reason that they’re going to design a system based on efficiency and reliability, not personal preference.
They’re not going to build an energy generation and transmission system that works its way around local considerations, just to keep the people of Korumburra happy, for example, at the detriment of bigger picture issues like developing a power grid that “remains stable and efficient, minimising outages, and adapting to the evolving energy demands of Victoria”.
Oh sure, they’ll listen, as strategic advisor, engagement and communications with VicGrid, Monique Halliday, was at pains to stress.
“I cannot emphasise enough that your feedback is critical to this process.”
And if the case is made strongly enough about protecting highly-productive farming land, that’s vital to food production, they might identify these as areas to be avoided and protected, leaving them out of their approved Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) for now.
But ultimately, it is going to come down to “Power System Modelling”, which is a specialised approach used to represent the intricate workings of electrical power systems through computer simulations.
In other words, they’ll plonk the generation infrastructure, transmission lines, substations, batteries and all the rest in exactly the right location to ensure that the power grid remains stable and efficient, while also attracting investment and delivering low-cost energy to end users including the voting masses in Melbourne.
How will they narrow down the study area to REZs?
The study area is broad but its VicGrid’s job to narrow these larger areas into an integrated system of Renewable Energy Zones. Here’s how they’ll do it:
“As part of developing the 2025 VTP, we will narrow down the study area to identify smaller areas for further investigation. We will use industry-standard, best-practice energy market modelling and a multicriteria analysis to help identify these more granular areas. Energy market modelling will be used to identify the most suitable locations to host generation and transmission within the study area from an economic or ‘least cost’ point of view. A multi-criteria analysis will enable quantitative and qualitative impacts relating to community understanding and support, regional economic development and developer/generator interest to be included within the assessment of smaller areas for further investigation. Refining areas for investigation is a dynamic process that aims to actively incorporate feedback received through ongoing engagement with communities and industry stakeholders. An important part of this process includes working closely with communities, First Peoples and industry to minimise impacts on agricultural land, communities, water systems and biodiversity.”
So, community feedback will be included in the decision-making process but a statement in the “overview” of the government’s Developing the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan sums it up, with the emphasis on “community understanding and acceptance” rather than community-driven outcomes.
“We’re inviting submissions about the draft Victorian Transmission Plan Guidelines, to make sure they deliver an affordable, reliable, safe and secure transition to net zero emissions, while increasing community understanding and acceptance, and encouraging industry investment.”
The next VicGrid Community Information Webinar will be held at 1pm on Thursday, August 1. Register HERE.
You can also participate HERE by filling out feedback forms and making submissions.
Or you might also consider attending a “drop in” information session at the Korumburra Community Hub, Little Commercial Street on Wednesday, August 14 from 4pm-7pm or Thursday, August 15 from 10.30am to 12.30pm
The other Gippsland session, likely to focus on the offshore wind transmission line study area from the Ninety Mile Beach to Traralgon, will be held at the Port of Sale centre on Wednesday, August 7 from 4pm to 7pm and Thursday, August 8 from 10.30am-12.30pm.