…for now!

GIPPSLAND Skies, one of 12 feasibility licence holders for offshore wind projects off the Gippsland coast, has ruled out bringing the power cable from its proposed 2.5 GW project onshore at Waratah Bay.

The company announced that it had taken its “northern marine survey off the table following community feedback” on Wednesday morning, April 2.

But even then, they’ve left open the possibility that “additional future connection points for offshore wind” might be proposed along the Gippsland coast by VicGrid in future Victorian Transmission Plans.

Here’s what Gippsland Skies had to say, ruling out landing their cable near Sandy Point.

“Gippsland Skies has conducted extensive engagement with the Gippsland community regarding the development of its potential offshore wind project off the South Gippsland coast,” said Gippsland Skies.

“This consultation has included 19 separate sessions conducted over the past nine months, with the most recent being eight consultation sessions held throughout February and March.”

“We are grateful to members of the Gippsland community for the time they took to attend our various consultation and information sessions and for providing clear and respectful feedback on our proposed offshore wind project.

“We deeply respect and appreciate your opinions and points of view.

“Taking into consideration the large volume of community feedback received, Gippsland Skies will not be surveying the proposed offshore northern grid connection cable route.”

Gippsland Skies had taken two “marine investigation areas” to its community information sessions in February and March, including at a community drop-in session at Sandy Point on Saturday, February 15.

One of the marine investigation areas for the undersea power cable runs approximately 150km from their proposed offshore wind farm south of Wilsons Promontory north-east to the shared connection point at Giffard West near Sale.

The other marine investigation area was proposed to run 53km to beach at Waratah Bay, clearly a shorter distance, but likely requiring a new high-voltage transmission line to run 80+ kilometres across the South Gippsland countryside from Sandy Point to Loy Yang A at Traralgon.

But Gippsland Skies has now dropped the option of the “northern grid connection cable route” from the Declared Area (OEI-01-2022 part 3) it shares with Southerly Ten’s 2.2 GW Kut-Wut Brataualung wind farm project.

Gippsland Skies’ statement continues:

“Any further marine surveys of potential alternative offshore grid connection corridors by Gippsland Skies will be informed by further information being provided on additional future connection points for offshore wind including through the Victorian Transmission Plan being developed by VicGrid.

"The company’s upcoming marine survey program will include surveys in the feasibility licence area and proposed eastern cable corridor route only.”

Who knew what, when?

Around the same time as Gippsland Skies was ruling out the Waratah Bay option, the Labor candidate for Monash, Tully Fletcher, was releasing a statement of his own, declaring that if he gets elected as the new Member for Monash, at the Saturday, May 3 Federal election, no offshore wind farm cables will come ashore west of Wilsons Promontory.

“Since my preselection as the Federal Labor candidate for Monash I've spoken with voters, councils and community groups about Gippsland offshore wind,” said Mr Fletcher this week.

“There's very strong support across Gippsland for renewable energy, offshore wind, and the jobs and investment renewables are bringing to our communities.

“However, I've also heard clear and unanimous feedback about Gippsland Skies' exploration of a western connection cable route through Waratah Bay, west of Wilsons Promontory.

“If I'm elected as the Federal Member for Monash, the proposed western cable route through Waratah Bay will not proceed.

“I will make sure it never happens,” he told the Sentinel Times this week.

“I spoke with Gippsland Skies this week to confirm my position.

“To reassure affected communities, farmers, and businesses, I requested Gippsland Skies make a public statement to confirm they will only proceed with an eastern cable route, consistent with the Victorian Transmission Plan.

“Monash needs a new federal MP who does the work, stands up for Gippsland, and gets things done. I'm already delivering,” said Mr Fletcher.

Mr Fletcher told the Sentinel-Times that he had met with Gippsland Skies officials earlier in the week and made his position known and that he intended to make a statement to that effect.

A spokesman for Gippsland Skies confirmed that such a meeting had occurred but noted that it was general feedback from “a lot of people” including the local community at consultation sessions, other state and federal MPs and candidates that resulted in Gippsland Skies dropping the Waratah Bay or northern cable route.

It is not known whether Gippsland Skies indicated to Mr Fletcher, prior to his media statement and their own announcement on Wednesday, that they were considering dropping the Waratah Bay route option.

Asked if he already knew Gippsland Skies intended to withdraw its northern corridor option before making his statement, Mr Fletcher didn’t directly answer the question.

“I spoke to Gippsland Skies earlier this week to express my position and advise them I would be making a public statement. I’m pleased Gippsland Skies have arrived at the same conclusion as our community, and I welcome their statement today.”

As an aside, a former spokesman for Tarwin Valley Coastal Guardians, Tim Leroy, wrote to the Sentinel-Times this week, congratulating the local paper for bringing the issue to light in a front page story on Tuesday, February 18 headed ‘High-voltage election – How offshore turbines could spin the result in Monash”.

“Great news! Thanks for all your hard work in bringing this issue to light,” said Mr Leroy.

Laura Jennings from Responsible Renewables was quick to respond to that article, helping to keep the South Gippsland community informed.

"We are deeply concerned about proposals to establish onshore connections through Waratah Bay – an integral part of the Wilsons Promontory seascape,” Ms Jennings said in February.

“This directly contradicts Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen's commitment to protect the western side of Wilsons Promontory from offshore wind turbines and associated infrastructure.

"The environmental cost to Wilsons Promontory’s pristine coastline, marine ecosystem, and local environment is simply too high. While we support renewable energy development, it cannot come at the expense of protecting our irreplaceable natural heritage. This appears to be driven by multinational developers' profit motives rather than community interests."

Jennings added, "We're now facing a scenario where responsibility will likely be shifted between developers and different levels of government. The community consultation process by both state and federal governments has been inadequate from the start, failing to properly consider the needs of both current and future generations. This rush toward renewable energy development without due environmental consideration prioritises corporate interests over long-term environmental stewardship."

Notwithstanding Gippsland Skies denials, it may be that the next Member for Monash will be called on to rule out other inappropriately located transmission lines through South Gippsland, either to connect with the massive offshore wind projects or other renewable energy infrastructure as part of the Victorian Transmission Plan.