UPDATE, AUGUST 28: AusNet has announced the Western Renewables Link Environment Effects Statement will be released for public viewing and submissions in 2024.
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Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny on August 22 confirmed that an Environment Effects Statement (EES) will be required for the project, based on the new proposed project form.
Among the reasons for the decision were the "significant environmental values" of the affected areas including residential and agricultural land uses; and the need to "respond to community interest in project siting, alignment and design alternatives by providing appropriate opportunities for public input".
AusNet will "continue to engage with landholders on the proposed route for the Western Renewables Link while we prepare the project's EES," the company's latest online update stated.
When complete the EES will be exhibited for at least 30 days, allowing community members to make written submissions to Planning Panels Victoria.
The submissions will inform the panel in making recommendations to the Planning Minister who will ultimately decide whether approvals should be granted and what conditions should apply.
PREVIOUSLY: Three years after the state government ordered it, a report into the environmental impacts of a new transmission corridor on western Victorian farmland has gone back to square one.
The Victorian Planning Minister on August 11 accepted a new referral from utility company AusNet regarding the controversial Western Renewables Link (WRL), a proposed 190 kilometre high voltage transmission line designed to carry renewable energy from Bulgana near Ararat to Sydenham in Melbourne's northwest.
The referral asks the Minister to decide, for a second time, whether or not an Environment Effects Statement (EES) is required under the Environment Effects Act.
A referral was previously submitted in June 2020, with then Minister Richard Wynne in August that year finding an EES was required for "rigorous and transparent assessment" of alignment and design alternatives, and to provide "appropriate opportunities for public input".
Energy minister Lily D'Ambrosio subsequently directed AusNet to include in the report detailed information on alternate routes and undergrounding, in addition to the standard requirements.
It's unknown how much progress was made on the report.
Meanwhile, the WRL has undergone a number of changes - including increasing the capacity of the transmission line between the north of Ballarat and Bulgana; removing a proposed terminal station north of Ballarat; and completing a rebuild of Sydenham Terminal Station earlier as a separate project.
An AusNet spokesperson on Monday confirmed these changes prompted the referral for a new decision on the assessment requirements.
The spokesperson did not respond when asked how this would affect the project's timeline.
According to the 2020 referral, construction was expected to start late-2022, be complete by late-2024, and operation was to commence in 2025.
AusNet in March this year told The Courier it expected to submit the EES "later this year (2023) following extensive consultation and investigation".
The company announced over the weekend it has begun sending landholders compensation valuations for the right to acquire an easement on their property.
A media release stated more than a dozen compensation offers have already been sent with the remainder to follow in coming months.
The offers ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars and are based on the difference between the market value before and after the easement, known as the market value depreciation.
This is in addition to the payment announced in February this year by the state government of $8,000 per year per kilometre of new transmission easement hosted for 25 years, totalling $200,000.
The release revealed AusNet has made 95 route changes in response to landholder feedback and technical assessments.
Chief Development Officer Jon D'Sylva said the company "recognises that the process required to investigate the feasibility of the Western Renewables Link has been stressful for local communities".
"We have listened to the community, and we are making changes where possible to ease that stress," Mr D'Sylva said.
The new referral states that where an easement cannot be negotiated with landholders directly, AusNet may seek approval from the Governor in Council to compulsorily acquire an easement over private land to erect, lay and maintain powerlines, in accordance with the Electricity Industry Act 2000.
The referral document, dated August 10, reveals the estimated cost of the project is in excess of $1 billion.
It states AusNet has examined full undergrounding and partial undergrounding options and that "due to the greater ground disturbance impacts of undergrounding, the time required to design, supply and install cables and the comparatively higher costs associated with construction, an overhead transmission line solution is preferred".
Opponents of the project have previously told The Courier no amount of compensation would be enough to change their minds.
Grassroots group Regional Victoria Power Alliance (formerly Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance) is encouraging affected landholders to "hold the line" by denying access to their properties.
The group has organised a tractor rally along Melbourne's Spring Street to the steps of Parliament House on Tuesday, August 15, and is also fighting the project through the Supreme Court where a trial is scheduled for September.
The Victorian Farmers' Federation launched a petition to the Victorian Parliament earlier this month to stop the WRL and connecting project the Victoria to NSW Interconnector West.
The National Farmers' Federation has pledged to resist any compulsory acquisition of farmland for power line corridors.
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