Grange Planning Brain

title: Western Victoria Transmission Network Project council: moorabool state: vic category: strategy classification: MAJOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf
  • western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221-1.pdf
  • western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf
  • western-victoria-renewable-integration-project-specification-consultation-report_final.pdf
  • western-victoria-renewable-integration-rit-t-padr.pdf
  • western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf
  • westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf
  • wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf
  • wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf
  • wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf

Western Victoria Transmission Network Project

The Western Victoria Transmission Network Project is a state-significant electricity transmission project whose planning significance is not only its route, but the way a market-led network need is translated into land-use impacts across peri-urban, agricultural, landscape, bushfire and growth-area settings in Moorabool Shire. The core planning tension is that AEMO’s RIT-T process selected an overhead AC network option on electricity-market benefits, while the EES and council material deal with local effects that the RIT-T did not price in the same way, including easement occupation, visual change, agriculture, fire management, cultural heritage and social effects (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.3-9; Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.1-2; Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.1-6).

Background

The project originates in AEMO’s Western Victoria Renewable Integration RIT-T, which began from a finding that renewable generation in Western Victoria was being constrained by the capacity of the existing 220 kV network and by system-strength limitations (Source: western-victoria-renewable-integration-project-specification-consultation-report_final.pdf, pp.6-14). In 2017, AEMO defined Western Victoria for the RIT-T as the Central Highlands, Wimmera Southern Mallee, Mallee, Loddon Campaspe and parts of the Great South Coast, and described the relevant network as extending from Moorabool Terminal Station west to Terang, north-east to Ballarat, and around the Ballarat-Horsham-Red Cliffs 220 kV loop (Source: western-victoria-renewable-integration-project-specification-consultation-report_final.pdf, p.6). The initial market problem was that the region had strong wind and solar resources, but the available network capacity was not sufficient to carry all proposed and committed generation to major load centres (Source: western-victoria-renewable-integration-project-specification-consultation-report_final.pdf, pp.11-14).

The RIT-T process moved from a 2017 Project Specification Consultation Report, to a 2018 Project Assessment Draft Report, to a 2019 Project Assessment Conclusions Report (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, p.14). AEMO’s final preferred option, Option C2, involved minor augmentations to existing 220 kV lines, a new North Ballarat terminal station, a new 220 kV double-circuit line from North Ballarat to Bulgana, and a new 500 kV double-circuit line from Sydenham to North Ballarat with two 1,000 MVA 500/220 kV transformers at North Ballarat (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.3-6). AEMO estimated the preferred option at 370 million present value, with 670 million gross market benefits and $300 million net market benefits, all in present value terms (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, p.4).

The project then entered the planning and environmental assessment pathway as the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project, later presented in public-facing EES material as Western Renewables Link (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.1-5; Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, pp.1-3). The referral described approximately 190 km of transmission line, comprising about 115 km of new overhead double-circuit 220 kV line between the new terminal station north of Ballarat and Bulgana, and about 75 km of new overhead double-circuit 500 kV line between the new North Sydenham Terminal Station and the new terminal station north of Ballarat (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.4-6). The same referral identified AusNet Services as the implementing organisation and anticipated construction commencing in Quarter 4 2022, completion in Quarter 4 2024 and operation in 2025, although later EES exhibition material shows the assessment process still active in 2025 (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, p.10; Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, p.1).

Analysis

Network Need and Statutory Mechanism

The project has two overlapping approval logics. The first is the National Electricity Rules RIT-T, which asks which credible option maximises net economic benefit for people who produce, consume and transport electricity in the market (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, p.14). The second is the Victorian EES and planning scheme amendment pathway, which tests whether the project can be located, designed and controlled in a way that manages environmental, social, land-use and amenity effects (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.1-2; Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, p.1).

This distinction matters because the RIT-T did not work like a whole-of-community land-use business case. The Moorabool economic assessment found that the RIT-T selected a preferred option on direct electricity-market benefits and did not account for local, indirect or non-market effects in the same way as a broader cost-benefit analysis under Victorian Treasury-style practice (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.1-2). That is the main cause of the local planning conflict: one process resolves the transmission investment need, while a separate process must resolve the physical distribution of burdens across land, settlements, landscapes and farms (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.14-19; Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.1-6).

AEMO’s network case is quantified and internally coherent within its market frame. The PACR reported that around 2,000 MW of committed new renewable generation would be built or commissioned in Western Victoria by 2020, with a further 3,000 MW projected by 2025 and a further 1,000 MW by 2030 (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.4-5). The PACR also found that Option C2 had higher weighted net market benefits than Option B3 under base assumptions and under sensitivities including a 10% discount rate, 30% higher cost and deferred KerangLink (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.7-8). The planning consequence is that the EES is not re-running the existence of the transmission need from first principles; it is testing corridor, design, mitigation and residual effects after the RIT-T selected the network configuration (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.9-15; Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.4-10).

Physical Footprint and Land-Use Effects

The referral gives the clearest physical mechanism for local effects. The average tower height is 56 m for 220 kV lines and 73 m for 500 kV lines, with towers typically spaced 450 m to 550 m apart (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.6-7). The average easement width is expected to be 35 m between Bulgana and Waubra where the new 220 kV line can partly use an existing easement, 50 m from Waubra to the new terminal station north of Ballarat, and about 70 m for the 500 kV double-circuit line, with some 500 kV sections potentially up to 100 m (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.7-13). These dimensions mean the land-use effect is not just tower sites; it is a continuous corridor controlling vegetation, access, building, machinery and future land-use choices over a long distance (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.6-8).

The project intersects Moorabool planning objectives because the Area of Interest is dominated by agricultural land while also passing near townships, rural living areas, parks, water bodies and major transport corridors (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.12-14). The referral states that grazing, cropping and other agricultural practices can continue under easements, but other uses may be restricted and AusNet has statutory authority to enter land for operations and maintenance (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, p.8). That produces a practical planning effect: productive use may continue in a narrow sense, but the land becomes encumbered by clearance, access and safety constraints that can change farm layout, capital investment decisions, land value perceptions and future dwelling or subdivision choices (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.7-8; Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.19-24).

The economic assessment identifies Moorabool’s 2019 economy as 31,820 people, 1.30 billion gross regional product, 2.31 billion annual output, 7,882 local jobs and 620 million export value (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, p.20). It records agriculture, forestry and fishing at 796 jobs, 295.5 million output and 206.67 million regional exports, with agriculture, resources and extractive industries together accounting for 46% of exports, 13% of jobs and 18% of annual output (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.20-21). It also records tourism, accommodation and food services as 891 jobs and 141 million annual output when tourism and accommodation/food services are read together (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.20-21). The planning implication is that route selection has to be assessed against the land-based sectors that carry a material share of local exports and visitor-related employment, not only against regional electricity dispatch benefits (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.20-24).

Growth Areas, Settlement and Strategic Conflict

Moorabool’s local exposure is sharpened by its peri-urban growth role. The economic assessment cites state and regional strategies identifying Bacchus Marsh and Ballan as peri-urban towns with growth potential, and it notes planning work for Parwan Station, Merrimu, Hopetoun Park North and Ballan South (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.22-24). The same report records Victoria in Future 2019 projecting Moorabool from 36,114 people in 2021 to 49,939 in 2036, a 13,825 person increase or 38% growth, while an alternative id Consulting scenario projected 61,545 people in 2036, a 25,599 person increase or 71% growth (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, p.22).

The mechanism is simple: a transmission corridor that skirts present town boundaries can still affect future settlement options if it crosses investigation areas, rural living edges, infrastructure corridors or landscape buffers that planning schemes rely on to shape growth (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.13-18). The referral itself lists urban areas of Melbourne’s Western Growth Area, Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Gordon, Ballarat and Creswick as areas to be avoided to the extent practicable, and it identifies northern and southern broad corridors around Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and the Western Growth Area for the 500 kV line (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.8-10). The EES therefore has to test not only where current houses are located, but how the corridor interacts with planned future residential, employment and rural-living structure in Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Parwan and Merrimu (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.22-24; Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.13-18).

Bushfire and Emergency Management

Bushfire is a central unresolved planning risk because the project is linear, elevated, and located in a municipality with mapped extreme and high-risk fire localities (Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, pp.1-5). Moorabool Shire Council’s October 2019 submission records three extreme fire risk areas - Blackwood, Dales Creek and Greendale - and nine high to very high risk areas, including Darley, Korweinguboora/Spargo Creek/Blakeville, Coimadai, Long Forest, Mount Wallace and Beremboke, Gordon, Mount Egerton, Myrniong and Lal Lal (Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, p.2). The same submission notes warm dry summers, a December to April bushfire season, warm to hot north-westerly winds followed by cool south-westerly changes, and projected hotter and drier conditions with fewer rainy days but increasing rainfall intensity (Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, p.5).

The concern is not only ignition. Council argued that fires near transmission lines can be dangerous, can damage infrastructure, can interrupt electricity supply and can constrain firefighting, particularly if poor alignment decisions place lines near high-risk human settlement areas (Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, p.5; Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.4-5). The EES referral identifies bushfire planning policy as relevant and states that planning should ensure bushfire risk to existing and future residents, property and community infrastructure will not increase as a result of future land use and development (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.15-16). The practical test is therefore route-specific: whether a particular alignment materially worsens emergency access, vegetation management, aerial suppression, ignition exposure or evacuation around named settlements and forest edges (Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, pp.1-5; Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.15-17).

Undergrounding and HVDC Alternatives

Council and other signatory councils asked the Minister for Planning to require an EES assessment of undergrounding for all or parts of the project, especially in sensitive areas (Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.2-3). The later HVDC scoping report, prepared for Moorabool Shire Council, states that AEMO’s preferred Option C2 was a 500 kV and 220 kV AC overhead solution and that no underground options were considered as part of the RIT-T analysis (Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.9-16). The same report developed a high-level underground HVDC base case cost estimate of about 2.696 billion, compared with AEMO/AusNet/vendor average AC Option C2 estimates of about 473.2 million for the 220 kV and 500 kV portions used in that study (Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.20-27).

The HVDC report does not remove the cost problem; it reframes it. It says the base underground HVDC option is about 5.7 times the AEMO preferred AC overhead option, while lower-capacity HVDC alternatives were estimated at 1.75 billion and 1.49 billion, or about 3.7 times and 3.2 times the AC overhead cost respectively (Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.7-8; Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.31-32). It also argues that if WVTNP is considered with the later VNI West interconnector, a staged HVDC system could be closer to cost competitive, with an illustrative comparison of 3.936 billion for the HVDC alternative against 2.2 billion for combined AC WVTNP Option C2 and VNI West Shepparton option (Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, p.35). The planning implication is that undergrounding is not a simple like-for-like mitigation; it is a different technology and staging question that shifts impacts from overhead visual and bushfire exposure to converter-station footprints, trenching, spoil, cable-jointing, route construction and higher capital cost (Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.21-28).

Environment, Landscape and Cultural Heritage

The referral identifies the Area of Interest as near major natural assets including Long Forest Nature Conservation Reserve, Lerderderg State Park, Werribee Gorge State Park, Brisbane Ranges National Park, Wombat State Forest, Creswick Regional Park, reservoirs, watercourses and conservation reserves (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.12-13). It also lists native vegetation removal, access tracks, hardstand areas, laydown areas, tower installation, terminal stations, borrow pits and concrete batching as possible construction activities or ancillary requirements (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.6-7). These activities create separate planning questions from the final easement, because temporary construction areas can affect vegetation, soil, drainage, farm operation and local roads even where the permanent corridor is narrower (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.6-13).

The councils’ 2020 EES letter adds two cultural-landscape issues that are not resolved by ordinary heritage register screening. It asks for early response to VEAC Central West recommendations relating to Wombat-Lerderderg National Park and for assessment of cultural heritage sites associated with a regional UNESCO world heritage bid involving 12 local governments and gold-rush landscapes (Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.4-5). It also asks for place-based engagement with Registered Aboriginal Parties because desktop assessment cannot identify all local priorities and sensitive places across such a large footprint (Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, p.5). The EES therefore needs both statutory heritage assessment and landscape-scale cultural assessment, especially where significance may be emerging rather than already listed (Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.4-5; Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.15-17).

Current Status

The most recent corpus document is the EES Information Guide, which states that the EES and draft Planning Scheme Amendment were to be exhibited for 40 business days from Monday 30 June to Friday 22 August 2025 (Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, p.1). The guide states that the Minister for Planning would appoint an independent inquiry and advisory committee to review submissions and hold a public hearing from the week beginning 27 October 2025 for about 7 to 9 weeks, with the committee report to the Minister expected between January and April 2026 (Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, p.1). The corpus does not include the exhibited EES chapters, draft PSA, submissions, hearing material, committee report or Minister’s Assessment, so the page cannot confirm the post-exhibition outcome from the available documents (Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, pp.1-3).

Dependencies

  • Blocks: Final route, easement acquisition, construction access, terminal-station siting and planning scheme controls cannot be fully understood from the available corpus until the exhibited EES, draft PSA and inquiry/advisory committee material are read (Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, pp.1-3).
  • Blocked by: The project is dependent on completion of the EES/PSA assessment pathway, Ministerial assessment, route-specific environmental controls, land access arrangements and any final statutory approvals (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.1-10; Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, p.1).
  • Informed by: The initiative is informed by AEMO’s PSCR, PADR and PACR, Moorabool’s local economic assessment, council fire-risk submission, councils’ EES advocacy letter, the EES referral and the council-commissioned HVDC scoping report (Source: western-victoria-renewable-integration-project-specification-consultation-report_final.pdf, pp.5-7; Source: western-victoria-renewable-integration-rit-t-padr.pdf, pp.3-6; Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.3-9; Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.1-4; Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, pp.1-5; Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.1-6; Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.7-9).
  • Implements: The project implements the transmission augmentation selected by the Western Victoria Renewable Integration RIT-T and supports the Victorian Renewable Energy Target and renewable energy zone development identified in the RIT-T material (Source: western-victoria-rit-t-pacr.pdf, pp.3-5; Source: western-victoria-renewable-integration-project-specification-consultation-report_final.pdf, pp.11-14).
  • Conflicts with: The project creates planning tensions with agricultural land protection, peri-urban growth planning, landscape protection, bushfire risk management, cultural heritage aspirations and local social licence concerns (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf, pp.20-28; Source: westvicritt-msc-fire-submission-22oct19.pdf, pp.1-5; Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.1-6).

The project crosses Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Hepburn, Ballarat, Moorabool and Melton municipalities, so corridor decisions in Moorabool are linked to route feasibility and mitigation choices outside the Shire (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, p.14). The councils’ EES advocacy letter was signed by Moorabool, Melton, Hepburn and Ballarat chief executives, showing that the project was treated as a shared regional planning issue rather than a single-council matter (Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, p.6). The project also relates to VNI West because the HVDC scoping report describes WVTNP as part of a broader western Victoria and south-east New South Wales transmission development pathway, with VNI West potentially connecting to the new North Ballarat terminal station (Source: wvtnp-high-level-hvdc-alternative-scoping-report.pdf, pp.20-22).

Gaps in This Analysis

The main corpus gap is the absence of the exhibited EES, technical appendices, draft Planning Scheme Amendment, submissions, inquiry/advisory committee transcript material, committee report and Minister’s Assessment (Source: wrl-ees-information-guide-v7.pdf, pp.1-3). Without those documents, this page can identify the mechanism of impact and the known local issues, but cannot quantify final route-specific native vegetation losses, dwelling setbacks, farm-by-farm easement areas, bushfire modelling outcomes, social impact ratings, cultural heritage management requirements, landscape ratings, planning controls or final mitigation commitments (Source: wvtnp-ees-referral-update-18.06_signed.pdf, pp.6-18; Source: 108.-let-minister-for-planning-re-western-victoria-transmission-network-project-env-effects-statement_0.pdf, pp.1-6). The two local economic assessment PDFs in the manifest appear to be duplicate extracted texts of the same February 2021 report, so they strengthen source coverage but do not add a second independent assessment (Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221.pdf; Source: western-vic-transmission-network-eia-final-150221-1.pdf).

Current-Status Guardrail

This is a material planning-signal page, but production legal-status advice requires the final approval, gazette, EES/assessment or adopted implementation record to be cited on the page. Until that evidence is present, use this page for mechanism and dependency intelligence rather than final operative-law status.

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