By KATRINA BRANDON
WORKS are starting early on the State Electricity Commission (SEC) Delburn Wind Farm, with Minister for the State Electricity Commission, Lily D’Ambrosio, breaking ground last week.
Located on the Delburn plantation, the project is scheduled to be completed by 2028, the same year it was initially scheduled to commence work.
Works are due to begin next month, which will help create more than 300 jobs, according to the Minister.
“Today (Wednesday, January 28), Gippsland and Latrobe Valley have continued to be a vital part of the state’s energy system,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“It’s a long tradition. It’s a long history that the Latrobe Valley has played in supporting every part of Victoria and beyond to provide that cheap electricity that we’ve relied on, and our industry and households have relied on now to keep the lights on and to do other industrious things.”
The wind farm will house 33 turbines, with a generation capacity of up to 205 megawatts, enough to supply the electricity grid with renewable energy and power more than 130,000 homes. The SEC will hold 100 per cent ownership of the project.
The project brings the SEC portfolio to more than one gigawatt (1024 megawatts) of renewable electricity and storage, almost a quarter of the SEC’s target of 4.5 gigawatts to be built by 2035.
Creating jobs in the area, other projects such as the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Plumpton have brought in 1200 work opportunities and 246 jobs at the renewable energy park in Horsham.
Answering questions and “easing” concerns, Ms D’Ambrosio assured that the project had the Country Fire Authority safety tick of approval, and that it would be safe to manage within the plantation.
“The planning process was a very rigorous process. It included conditions about having appropriate fire mitigation and management plans to be put in place,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“I’m pleased to say that the SEC has worked on that fire mitigation and management plan with the CFA, and was required to have the CFA endorse or approve that plan, and they have now done that, so the local community can be absolutely confident.”
Ms D’Ambrosio also said that extra precautions will be put in place to ensure the project is safe, including fire detection systems and suppression systems for all turbines. The plantation will be cleared around each terminal with physical barriers, and five 100,000-litre water tanks will supply water.
With precautions in place, Ms D’Ambrosio said that all partners involved have done their research, including looking at European projects within plantations that have continued to “thrive” over the last 10 years.
Touching on recent fires and extreme temperatures, Ms D’Ambrosio mentioned that, with record heat, electricity demand was “off the charts,” reaching 10,800 megawatts.
She said that many Victorians experienced power outages last Tuesday (January 27). Crews working to restore power to areas such as Sale and Warragul received feedback indicating a range of issues.
Some of those issues were caused by bushfires ripping through “electricity assets”, while in other areas, fuses blew or vegetation interfered with power lines.
“Unlike an outage on a transmission line that might take out 20,000 customers, if it’s one fault, it’s one crew you can get in there, potentially, depending on the nature of the cause, you can have them back on supplies sooner rather than later,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“In the last five years, very significant extreme storm events have taken out power from the networks across the state, particularly in those areas with high vegetation, and where those storm events really took down a lot of power lines as a result of that.
“We are seeing more frequent severe storms and weather events that are taking down power lines and causing major outages. We’re looking at a potentially new norm where this becomes more frequent. We are about to legislate new requirements for all network distribution businesses, requiring them to have in place resilient energy plans.”
Other concerns about farming land were also laid to rest.
Ms D’Ambrosio stated that the drive to get renewable energy will not force farmers to give up their land, and that “no farmer can be forced to give up their land, whether it is the SEC or anyone else”.
While some farmers are worried, the Minster moved to reassure those who have opted to host renewable energy projects or batteries have done so with contractual agreements.
“We value absolutely the agricultural sector; it is absolutely vital that it remains an important part of our economy in Victoria,” Ms Ambrosio said.
“VicGrid, which is the agency that is managing the planning around renewables, have done a lot of significant work and consultations with all landholders and councils across the state around proposed renewable energy zones.
“There are some areas where you shouldn’t have renewable energy projects, and that work has been done. We continue to engage with local communities to ensure that, in the end, the energy transition is a positive for all communities, and that is why we talk about and implement community benefit-sharing arrangements for landholders, including farmers, who host the projects.
“There’s got to be a win for everyone.”
Joining Ms D’Ambrosio at the launch was Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Tom McIntosh, SEC Chief Executive, Chris Miller, Latrobe City Council Mayor, Sharon Gibson, South Gippsland Shire Council Mayor, Nathan Hersey and Voices of the Valley President, Wendy Farmer.
Ms Farmer congratulated the state government on its investment.
“Congratulations to Lily D’Ambrosio MP for her determination in ensuring Victoria remains ambitious and leads a fair, just energy transition for our state and to all of those involved in this development,” she posted.
“The SEC led with innovation throughout its history, producing Victoria’s energy before privatisation of the energy sector, and today’s news of the Delburn Wind Farm being 100 per cent publicly owned and powering Victoria shows it’s ready to carry that spirit forward with bold vision, thoughtful planning, development and operations, and community at the forefront.”
Mayor Gibson shared her excitement for the project.
“It’s really great listening to the Minister how she was saying that we have been the powerhouse for Victoria for over a century. So it’s really great and encouraging to hear that,” Mayor Gibson told the Express.
“This is the first major investment since Loy Yang for ongoing jobs. So it is really great to hear, and how this shouldn’t be the last, so we’re really encouraged that she was talking about using this to diversify our economy.
“There has been concern from the local community. There is a community consultation committee, but we will always listen to the community and be there to support them as well. Because united you stand, divided you fall.”
