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Affordable, cleaner power to your door

Reading a Newspaper

Monday 23 August 2021

Today, the Victorian Liberal Nationals announce a new plan to secure affordable, reliable, and renewable energy in Victoria.

Western Victoria remains a key area for renewable energy generation. However, inadequate transmission infrastructure has left renewable power bottlenecked on the grid or stuck in solar and wind farms.

Despite knowing about these issues for years, Labor has failed to act and it’s outdated network is stalling the transition to renewables and leaving energy bills higher for longer. In the words of Labor’s Energy Minister: “It’s gonna collapse… It’s not gonna work.”

As the number and size of solar and wind farms in Western Victoria continues to grow, Victorians need a plan to capture the potential of this area whilst respecting existing land users, local communities and our natural environment.

Today, the Victorian Liberal Nationals announce our plan to get affordable, clean power out of Western Victoria and into households and businesses across the state. This plan includes;
• Reroute the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP) to a new route from Bulgana to Sydenham via Mortlake and Lara.
• Upgrade the capacity of the line to 500KV for the entire 300km distance and upgrade the Bulgana Terminal Station – future proofing this key infrastructure as more renewables come online.
• Direct VicGrid to establish a Competitive Evaluation Process through which this transmission project and all future transmission projects will be planned and costed.
• Task the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria – together with the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner – with investigating what options could be available to affected landowners for the purpose of addressing their legitimate interests and concerns.

Daniel Andrews’ failure to plan is seeing green solar and wind power generated in Western Victoria wasted as existing transmission lines are unable to cope with existing supplies, let alone future ones.

This upgraded project will unlock an additional 1,800 MW of renewable energy capacity for Victoria – enough to power 2.4 million homes and small businesses – meaning more affordable, cleaner power and lower emissions for every Victorian.

Consequently, this increased capacity will enable a reduction in Victoria’s emissions by a minimum of 13% and help position the Liberal Nationals to meet legislated emissions reduction targets.

Furthermore, this commitment compliments the Victorian Liberal Nationals Zero to Landfill policy – a bold plan to boost recycling and waste-to-energy technology to eliminate house household waste being sent to landfill by 2035.

Only the Victorian Liberal Nationals have a plan to get affordable, clean and more reliable power flowing into households and businesses across the state.

Comments attributable to Leader of the Opposition, Michael O’Brien:

“Daniel Andrews has no plan to fix his bottlenecked energy grid which is seeing renewable power being stuck on solar and wind farms.

“The Victorian Liberal Nationals back renewables and have a real plan to get more clean energy to every Victorian household and businesses.”

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables, Brad Rowswell:

“This commitment means lower power bill for households and businesses across the state and cements the future of renewable energy in Western Victoria.

“Only the Liberal Nationals have a plan to unlock the renewable energy potential of Western Victoria and get affordable, clean power flowing across the state.”

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Bridget Vallence:

“While Daniel Andrews and Labor continues to ride roughshod over farmers and environmental groups, the Victorian Liberals Nationals have a positive plan to reduce emissions whilst supporting local communities.

“Labor’s failure to plan puts at risk our precious natural environment and biodiversity. Our plan will better protect prime agricultural land, national parks and reserves, and local farming and eco-tourism jobs.”

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