Projects, Renewables, Transmission

Transgrid to fast-track $10 billion transmission upgrades

Transgrid is vowing to fast-track its rollout of major transmission upgrades to ensure completion of the projects sooner than timeframes outlined by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

Transgrid is developing three major transmission projects worth $10 billion: EnergyConnect, which will move energy through NSW, South Australia and Victoria; HumeLink, which will connect the Snowy Hydro 2.0 expansion to the network; and VNI West, the southern transmission link to Melbourne.

The AEMO 2022 Integrated System Plan specifies EnergyConnect is due to be completed by 2024-2025, HumeLink by 2026 and VNI West by 2031, however Transgrid chief executive Brett Redman expects these projects to be operational well before these dates.

“We believe we can beat the times compared to the Integrated System Plan,” he told The Australian.

“EnergyConnect will be in 2024, HumeLink by the middle of 2026, and the big one is VNI West, which is 2028 rather than 2031.”

Transgrid is aiming to integrate the EnergyConnect, HumeLink and VNI West projects into a single program to save time and cut costs.

“We think these are realistic targets which we can do if we bundle together and work smarter on the three projects, and get our skates on,” said Redman.

“We are close to placing large orders for equipment, and the next big thing is to start to put in orders for critical and long-lead items to meet this big challenge of having transmission ready so we get renewables connected and beat coal closure.”

One challenge facing Transgrid in the rollout of these transmission projects is pushback from landowners opposed to infrastructure impacting their properties.

However, the NSW Government’s recent Strategic Benefits and Payments Scheme incentive of an additional $200,000 per kilometre for transmission pylons hosted on rural land – to be paid over 20 years – is expected to ease pressure coming from the state’s farmers.

“The second big challenge is social licence because building transmission lines does impact landowners in a big way,” said Redman.

“The doubling of compensation will help with the social licence challenge, even as we continue to consult very deeply with landowners and community.”

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