News, Information and Updates

The Liberals and Nationals are proud to put forward to the Victorian people what is without doubt the most comprehensive policy agenda ever taken to a Victorian election. This policy scraps the Western Renewablkes Link in its current form and sends it back to the drawing board where it belongs.

Tensions are erupting across Victoria’s volcanic plains as a battle to protect state significant landscape and regional communities from AEMO and AusNet Services proposed 500kV overhead transmission network heats up.

If we are going to do renewable energy, we need to do it right the first time. And we need to protect our food industries, cultural heritage and environment and do our part to reduce the disastrous impacts of catastrophic weather events.

Under the unconvincing title of ‘renewable energy’ the government tries to push through a corridor of transmission towers and in the process leave country Victorians ‘hung out to dry’. "The Ironwork Grid is a thing of the Past and Has No Value in Our Future" is a heartfelt message by Janie Garner.

AusNet Services state that only 245 landholders will now be impacted by the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP). The reality is that the WVTNP will impact thousands of Victorians if this project proceeds in its current form.

The Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP) today released the Landholder Guide: Land access, easements and compensation. "I've added a few thoughts of my own for consideration. Have a read then download the guide".

The Western Victoria Transmission Network Project hosted a series of community webinars throughout September where environmental and technical specialists presented their findings. You can find recording of these webinars here.

Decline of Victoria’s biodiversity is set to accelerate as native habitats are fragmented by the recently announced proposed final corridor of the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP).

AusNet have today announced their final preferred transmission corridor. What this means is we need to stand together and work hard NOW to remain strong in our call to #burythecables.

Despite claims AusNet is working to improve its community consultation, residents along the proposed corridor had to learn about this announcement via the media. The battle is certainly about to heat up now.

Amplitude consultants were engaged by Moorabool Shire Council to investigate an alternative HVDC option utilising underground cable to the AEMO preferred Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP) Option C2.

To ensure a continued reliable supply of energy in Southern Germany, transmission system operators 50Hertz and TenneT are planning to build the SuedOstLink electricity highway. The project represents the most powerful HVDC system in VSC technology worldwide.

We must insist on a comprehensive review of all Renewable Energy transmission projects. Overhead transmission infrastructure is not in the public interest, it is an antiquated solution to energy transmission that results in unacceptable direct impacts and cumulative disbenefits.

People power is the driving force behind any successful campaign. Working together with diverse community leaders, we will show how communities can organise, fight back and win against projects like the Western Victoria Transmission Network.

German cabinet opts for underground power cabling. The decision by ministers to opt for the main north-south trunk of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of DC cable follows bitter resistance to overhead cabling.

The battle to get high voltage transmission lines put underground seems to have been going forever, but a spokesperson for one community group says meeting with politicians over the past few weeks has “reinvigorated” the fight.

Large-scale solar development in regional New South Wales has gained an unexpected new opponent, with the state chapter of Country Women’s Association of Australia voting to call on governments to prevent solar farms from being developed in prime agricultural areas.

Darley Power Fight and our partners, Trail Hiking Australia are Key Members of the EES Consultation Stakeholder Group. With direct access to the Project team, we are in a position to be better informed and provide feedback throughout the preparation of the EES and Draft Planning Scheme Amendment.

Looking for inspiration? People power was the driving force behind the community-powered campaign to save Westernport Bay. Working together with diverse community leaders, they showed how local people can organise, fight back and win against big corporate polluters!

Victoria’s shift from fossil fuelled power to renewable energy has sparked heated debate about the future of the state’s Renewable Energy Zones (REZ). The Victorian Government has increased the Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) to 50 per cent by 2030.

We are excited to announce that Trail Hiking Australia has joined the fight to save the Significant Landscape Character of the Lerderderg State Park from the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP).

The visual amenity of the Darley region would be ruined by overhead power lines if the project goes ahead. Article published on Independent Australia

Darley Power Fight had a productive 2-hour meeting in Darley on 21 April 2021 with Mr Andrew Dyer, the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner. Andrew and his team came to better understand the impacts of overhead transmission infrastructure through our region.

Tensions are erupting across Victoria’s volcanic plains as a battle heats up to protect State Significant Landscape from impacts of the proposed Western Victoria Transmission Network.

Should we continue to supply thousands of properties and small towns via long skinny power lines running through dense bushland? For small communities it could mean microgrids that are either standalone, or that can be kept running when the main grid goes down.

HVDC LCC,  called HVDC Classic, is primarily used for connecting remote generation over long distances, Grid interconnection and DC links in AC grid, overland or subsea, where conventional AC methods cannot be used.

Should we continue to supply thousands of properties and small towns via long skinny power lines running through dense bushland? For small communities it could mean microgrids that are either standalone, or that can be kept running when the main grid goes down.

The MurrayLink Project set an Australian record by installing a major underground power interconnector within just 39 months - from conceiving, designing, licencing, permitting, and building through to commissioning stage.

Floating Gas Terminal Proposal at Crib Point rejected as locals celebrated their victory, concerned about the impact the plant would have had on the environment.

How the final route will be developed for consideration and assessment as part of the Environment Effects Statement (EES). This timeline outlines where the project is currently at in that process.

The contentious position of National Wind Farm Commissioner will be overhauled to focus on the multi-billion-dollar roll-out of new major energy transmission projects across the eastern states.

Most of the community are in full support of Renewable Energy Zones but not when when they create Visual Pollution in the process.

Australia’s first offshore wind project, the Star of the South, has narrowed down a route for the overland – but underground – transmission line that would connect the proposed 2,000MW of wind generation capacity to the grid in Victoria.

I have submitted a 35-page impact statement in response to the State Government of Victoria's Renewable Energy Zone Development Plan Directions Paper. Highlighting the profound impact on the Darley/Coimadai/Merrimu regions.

If you have just heard about the The Western Victoria Transmission Network Project you may be wondering who is behind the campaign to stop these towers.

AusNet are hosting a community drop-in session in Darley on Monday 29th March Darley Park, Fitzroy & Grey St, Darley. We have prepared a few questions to ask AusNet that relate to the huge impact on our region.

The State Government will hand over $1.6 million for the development of the 1001 Steps at Darley’s Bald Hill for arts and nature-based tourism. The tourism benefit of this project could all be lost before the project begins.

To regain its Social License to Operate, AusNet need to place decision-making in the hands of the community and implement what the community decides, not use old technology and present alternative corridors that do not minimise impacts and simply do not work.

AusNet Services is seeking nominations for members for three Western Victoria Transmission Network Project Community Consultation Groups. I would recommend reading the Terms of Reference to understand what you are signing up for.

The NSW government could consider using new powers to prohibit renewable energy projects from connecting to the grid in circumstances where there is strong community opposition to the project.

The challenge is to establish bulk power transmission systems to get power from lucrative but far off renewable energy sources right to the load centers. UHVDC transmission technology provides the efficient, reliable solution.

After weeks of hard work and dedication by the team at Darley Power Fight, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new and improved campaign website!

AUSNET have narrowed down a broad Area of Interest to a number of corridor options for further investigation and community consultation.

Stop AusNet’s Towers, is calling on governments to guarantee “full, genuine consultation, conduct and independent analysis” of alternatives to overhead lines, including underground options.

There has been considerable community resistance to the plan to run a network of high-voltage powerlines across the region.

AusNet has today announced a narrowed down corridor within the previously identified Area of Interest. We are devastated by this announcement, this project impacts our lives, our livelihoods, the environment and our future. It’s not just a line on a map.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) Integrated System Plan (ISP) identified 6 Victorian Renewable Energy Zones (REZs). Written submissions to the REZ Development Plan Directions Paper are welcome before midnight Wednesday, 31 March 2021.

The Darley Community Session was an opportunity to gain deeper insight into the proposed Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP), and to understand how we can “Stop AusNet’s Towers”.

The EES process is a systematic environmental assessment framework for projects with the potential for significant environmental impacts.

Underground HVDC Transmission Interconnectors or Transmission lines solve at least two problems for NEM Transmission and Distribution Participants in the event of bushfires and in planning the Risk Management of their Assets during bushfires.

Moorabool Shire Council has launched a campaign pressuring energy company AusNet Services to put the 500kV transmission lines that form the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project underground.

Win News today reported on the proposed project and the risk of endangering nearby communities.

Moorabool News asked AusNet, “if the route is not known, why would they be awarded the contract on a FIXED PRICE tender of approximately $370 Million dollars?

Environmental and social factors in big and pivotal development projects like the Marinus Link are deeply intertwined. Often, much opposition from people comes from demands for greater environmental protection.

They are big, bold and tough; they are potato farmers from Springbank and Bullarook and they care about their land, their produce and their families; Farming Lives Matter!

AUSNET have narrowed down a broad Area of Interest to a number of corridor options for further investigation and community consultation.

Residents were shocked to find that the proposed path for the 65m tall steel electricity towers will traverse historically significant and picturesque farmland adjacent to the Wombat State Forest and the Lerdederg State Park.

A Moorabool Cop and Upper House MP has taken local consultation concerns to the leaders of Ausnet, who are planning to build a 190km windfarm electricity transmission line through the Moorabool Shire and beyond.

A significant battle is shaping up over a 200MW wind farm proposed for Tasmania’s north-west, but it’s not the prospect of turbines – or the renewable energy project, itself – that is upsetting locals.

The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment has referred the Crookwell 3 Wind Farm to the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) for a final decision, advising it should reject the project due to the “significant visual impacts on the landscape and residents”.