Not a month goes by without another round of Prom Coast community consultations for massive infrastructure projects.
This month, it’s the turn of Gippsland Skies, the consortium granted a license for offshore surveys to investigate cable routes to shore for the proposed wind farms 30 kilometres off Wilsons Promontory. Residents of Foster, Sandy Point and Fish Creek have been getting updates on “how health, safety, environment and infrastructure integrity will be managed” during the marine investigations.
But there is only one issue on the minds of local residents and activist group Responsible Renewables - how will the power coming ashore get to the power station at Loy Yang?
VICGRID, the Victoria government body assigned to make the final decisions on all aspects of renewable energy in the state recently released a study that showed overland lines and towers are the preferred option to take power from Giffard to the LaTrobe valley electricity grid. So far, it has failed to rule out a second transmission coming ashore, but therecent community consultations have revealed Gippsland Skies plans to scope out connections with two cross-shore corridors - with one proposal seeing the connection coming ashore at Waratah Bay and travelling through South Gippsland and the hills to the Latrobe Valley.
VICGRID told The Sentinel Times that it “has made it clear to Gippsland Skies and to all offshore wind proponents that those wishing to connect to the first stage of the offshore wind transmission need to do so at the shared connection point near Giffard. No decisions have been made on further transmission requirements.”
South Gippslanders like retired engineer and activist, Robert Boelen, are adamant they don’t want a repeat of the Giffard to Loy Lang overland corridor of pylons cutting through the landscape. “Should the cable corridor come ashore at Waratah Bay, rather than the originally planned site at Giffard where power from the Star of the South windfarms off 90 Mile Beach will hit land, we will have to fight hard to make sure it goes underground”, Mr Boelen said.
“Why would you spoil the environment with obtrusive antiquated and ugly transmission towers, especially when there’s a proposed underground cable coming ashore at Waratah Bay designed to take power back and forth between Victoria and Tasmania as and when required?”
The cable Mr Boelen refers to is the Marinus Link, “a proposed undersea and underground electricity and data interconnector between North West Tasmania and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria”. It will allow Tasmania’s low cost hydro power to flow one way and excess solar power to go the other as and when required.
Gippsland Skies states on its website, “At this early stage, project approvals will include consideration of two possible marine cable routes, a primary Eastern Cable Corridor and an alternative Northern Cable Corridor:
“The proposed Eastern Cable Corridor extends from our proposed Project’s Feasibility Licence Area (Declared Area OEI-01-2022 part 3, south of Waratah Bay and Wilsons Promontory) up to VicGrid’s proposed initial connection point for 2GW of offshore wind at Giffard.
“The proposed Northern Cable Corridor extends from our proposed Project’s Feasibility Licence Area up to Waratah Bay, although it should be noted that currently no VicGrid nominated connection point for offshore wind has been identified in this Area.”
Laura Jennings of Responsible Renewables has stated, “We are deeply concerned about proposals to establish onshore connections through Waratah Bay – an integral part of the Wilsons Promontory seascape. This directly contradicts Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s commitment to protect the western side of Wilsons Promontory from offshore wind turbines and associated infrastructure.”
The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien, has called for a quick end to speculation, “This is simply unacceptable and a prospect that must be immediately ruled out by the Minster.”
Future Gippsland Skies community consultations in the Prom Coast patch will be held at Port Albert on Wednesday 12 March at 4pm at the Port Albert Mechanics Institute and in Leongatha on Thursday 27 March at 4pm at the Leongatha Memorial Hall.
David Barrett
