Overview

VNI West is a proposed new high capacity 500 kV double-circuit overhead transmission line, which will deliver vital new transmission infrastructure to:

• Carry clean, low-cost renewable power from renewable energy zones (REZs) in New South Wales and Victoria, in particular the wind and solar-rich regions of the Murray River REZ and the Western Victorian REZ.
• Enable at least 3.4 GW of new renewable generation in the Murray River and the Western Victorian REZs.
• Add 1,935 MW of electricity export capacity from Vic to NSW
• Improve security and reliability in the electricity network as coal-fired power stations retire

Project Assessment Conclusions Report (PACR)

Summary

AEMO Victorian Planning (AVP) and Transgrid have recently released the Project Assessment Conclusions Report (PACR) which identifies the preferred network option for VNI West.

The PACR is the final report in the Regulated Investment Test for Transmission (RIT-T) and marks the end of the work to assess the business case for VNI West.

The PACR identifies the preferred option for VNI West, charting a broad corridor that connects it to Western Renewables Link (WRL) at a new terminal station at Bulgana and crossing the Murray River north of Kerang. This continues on to connect with EnergyConnect in New South Wales at the new Dinawan substation. It is known as Option 5A.

Option 5A is a variant of the proposed preferred Option 5 from the additional Consultation Report published in February 2023.

In this next phase of the project the focus shifts to the host communities and working with these important stakeholders as well as landholders and Traditional Owners to refine the route.

Stakeholder feedback on the Additional Consultation Report has been taken into account in the PACR

Since the Project Assessment Draft Report was published in July last year, AVP and Transgrid have been consulting on the VNI West option.

They recently undertook six weeks of community and stakeholder consultation over alternate options in Victoria, including where VNI West links to the Western Renewables Link project.

Communities urged AVP to undertake this additional work and it provided an opportunity to broaden our appreciation of what matters to communities in the broad area of interest for VNI West.

In total, 533 submissions were received in response to the additional Consultation Report, 519 of which have been published on AEMO’s website (14 submitters requested confidentiality). A large number of submissions (491) were received from concerned landholder and other community members. The remainder were received from councils, community organisations, environmental groups and consumer representatives.

The detailed feedback regarding specific properties or areas will be of great assistance in this next phase, when the identified area of interest is narrowed down to a preferred corridor.

Community Engagement

Get in touch

If you have a question you would like to ask, please get in contact through the details below.

Email: enquiries@transmissionvictoria.com.au

Free call: 1800 824 221

Website: transmissionvictoria.com.au

Kerang Office: Shop 15, 47 Victoria Street, Patchell Plaza, Kerang.
Open 12pm to 4:30pm on Tuesdays and 9am to 1pm on Wednesdays.