An energy expert says he is "sceptical" of the Australian Energy Market Operator's (AEMO) target to build five major transmission projects within the next 10 years.
Yesterday AEMO released its 30-year roadmap for the electricity grid's transition from fossil fuels to renewables, which it said would require more than $12 billion of investment in new transmission lines that should begin "as urgently as possible" to ensure supply was secure in the coming decade.
Victoria Energy Policy Centre director Bruce Mountain said fierce community opposition to energy projects, such as the recently rebranded Western Renewables Link in Victoria, delayed vital infrastructure being built.
"I'm quite sceptical that many of the transmission augmentations [AEMO] envisages can go ahead in this timeline," he said.
"Because, quite reasonably, there is a lot of opposition on environmental and other grounds and I think there is no doubt we need to consider the social impact of transmission projects."
Mr Mountain said government intervention in the commissioning process was needed for the Western Renewables Link, because opposition to the project had created a "stalemate".
"I do think the arguments on this are fairly clear and I'm not sure they've been heard — I don't think the Integrated System Plan (ISP) is the appropriate forum," he said.
"The ISP is a much narrower engineering exercise by the energy market operator, which has no particular mandate in the consideration of social license."
The ISP is AEMO's planning mechanism for the National Electricity Market (NEM).
The primary objective is to optimise value to end consumers by designing the lowest cost and most secure energy system.
"There is a role for government in resolving the issues," Mr Mountain said.
"The issues here are of 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.
Opponents say the powerlines will cause major disruptions to horticultural production, increase fire risk and cause emotional distress.
The farmers are now also facing the prospect an additional transmission line – the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West (VNI West) – that has been labelled a priority in AEMO's report.
This power project is planned to run from the proposed new power hub in Newlyn up towards Bendigo, then further north to tap into the Snowy Hydro grid in New South Wales.
Fifth-generation Newlyn potato farmer and chairman of the Kingston and District Power Alliance, Kain Richardson, said the VNI West would be two 500kV transmission lines that would connect to the Western Renewables link to deliver power into Melbourne.
"We'll be right on the fringe of the VNI West," he said.
"We've been advocating that the state will be covered in powerlines soon and all communities should be aware of this.
Mr Richardson said regional communities were becoming unfairly burdened by the proposed large infrastructure projects that would benefit energy consumers in capital cities.
"It's 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," he said.
"There's a huge horticultural impact and at the end of the day it'll 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 the lack of social licence his organisation has."
AusNet Services, AEMO and multiple state and federal minsters have been approached for comment by the ABC.
