An energy expert believes that he is sceptical about the Australian Energy Market Operator's AEMO's goal to build five major transmission projects within the next 10 years.
AEMO released its 30 year roadmap for the transition from fossil fuels to renewables yesterday, which it said would require more than $12 billion of investment in new transmission lines to ensure supply is secure in the coming decade.
Victoria Energy Policy Centre director Bruce Mountain said that fierce community opposition to energy projects, such as the recently renamed Western Renewables Link in Victoria, delayed vital infrastructure being built.
I'm quite skeptical that many transmission augmentations AEMO envisages can go ahead in this timeline, he said.
There is a lot of opposition on environmental and other grounds, and I think there is no doubt that we need to consider the social impact of transmission projects. He said that government intervention in the commissioning process was needed for the Western Renewables Link because opposition to the project had created a stalemate. He said that the arguments on this are fairly clear and I don't think the Integrated System Plan ISP is the appropriate forum.
The energy market operator has no mandate for the consideration of social license because of the ISP's narrower engineering exercise. The ISP is a planning mechanism for the National Electricity Market NEM. The main objective is to maximise value to end consumers by designing the lowest cost and most secure energy system.
There is a role for government in solving the problems, according to Mr Mountain.
The issues here are of a broader policy, which is not the role of the energy market institutions.
Just being ripped off''
Farmers have been campaigning against the Western Renewables Link for years, which proposes 500 kilovolt high-voltage transmission lines that could be as high as 85 metres.
The powerlines will cause major disruptions to horticultural production, increase fire risk and cause emotional distress, according to opponents.
A further transmission line from Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West VNI West is currently facing farmers, which has been labelled a priority in the AEMO's report.
The power project is planned to run from the proposed new power hub in Newlyn up to Bendigo, then north to tap into the Snowy Hydro grid in New South Wales.
Kain Richardson, a fifth-generation Newlyn potato farmer and chairman of the Kingston and District Power Alliance, said the VNI West would be two 500 kV transmission lines that would connect to the Western Renewables link to deliver power into Melbourne.
He said that we'll be right on the fringe of the VNI West.
We believe that the state will be covered in powerlines soon and all communities should be aware of this.
Richardson said regional communities were being burdened by the proposed large infrastructure projects that would benefit energy consumers in capital cities.
He said that it is not even for the greater benefit of our communities - we're just being ripped off and we'll have to pay for this poor planning.
There's a huge horticultural impact and at the end of the day it's going to be a loss of capital value on these places and that could put some farmers in very awkward positions financially.
AEMO Chief Executive Daniel Westerman has very little idea of the impacts and lack of social licence his organisation has. AusNet Services, AEMO and multiple state and federal minsters have been approached for comment by the ABC.