Securing the cash for a multi-billion-dollar third electricity interconnector for Victoria will be the top priority for a new western Victorian energy task force.
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The newly formed Grampians New Energy Taskforce is made up of local governments, regional partnerships, Regional Development Australia, the Wimmera Development Association and Committee for Ballarat.
The push for a third interconnector, which would offer an extra connection with South Australia, would increase the state’s capacity to provide and receive energy across state borders, creating a bigger market for western Victoria’s rapidly growing renewable sector.
“One of the goals of this group is to open up transparency,” Mr Benjamin said. “There’s a lot of things that are happening, most of it’s not top secret, but we haven’t had a way to deliver it back into our communities.
“We believe we need more transmission capacity. That could be funded partly by the private sector but most likely by the federal government in some way.”
The Central Highlands region is experiencing a boom in wind farm development and applications, with hundreds of turbines to be erected across the Moorabool and Pyrenees shires across the next year.
National wind farm commissioner Andrew Dyer was on hand to address the group in Ballarat on Friday. The commissioner, who specialises in complaint handling, said comprehensive community engagement was key to the success of renewable projects.
“The more we can help proponents to work well with communities and be effective in their engagement, the more likely that problems can be addressed ahead of time,” Mr Dyer said.