Community webinar, 16 June 2026
Brooke Hermans: Hello everyone,
We'll just wait for a few more people to join us. We've only just turned over to 7:00 PM, so we'll just give people a minute to get into the room.
Okay. Thank you all for joining us today. My name's Brooke Hermans, and I'll be facilitating this evening's webinar.
Tonight, I'm joined by Alistair Parker, CEO of VicGrid, and other VicGrid staff, including North West's Regional Director - Geoff Caine, Gippsland's Manager Engagement - Helen O'Brien, Carolyn Sanders - Director of Victorian Transmission Plan, and Monique Halliday - Acting Director Engagement.
Before we get started, I want to acknowledge Victorian Traditional Owners as the original custodians of Victoria’s land and waters, and honour Elders past, present, and emerging, and their continuing connection to Country across Victoria.
Tonight, in terms of what we've got ahead of us, Alistair will start with an overview of recent VicGrid publications and policy released to support a more coordinated transition to renewables in Victoria. We'll then hear from Geoff, Helen, and Monique about the declaration of renewable energy zones in the North West, South West, and Gippsland regions. And Carolyn will provide an update about preparations for the next Victorian Transmission Plan. And then finally, Monique will provide an update about the recently released Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines, as well as explaining how you can continue to engage with VicGrid into the future.
Now, I just want to point out that at the bottom of your Zoom app or the bottom of your screen, there should be a box labelled Q&A, or three little dots that you can click on, and a Q&A function will come up. You can use this function to pose questions to our presenters. We'll get to as many questions as we can, either answering them in the chat or in person during the session.
I'm now going to hand over to Alistair Parker, CEO of VicGrid, to provide an overall update. Alistair.
Alistair Parker: Thanks, Brooke.
And hi everybody. Thanks for spending this part of the evening with us.
So, before we discuss all the latest policy developments, we thought it would just be worth taking a moment to remind ourselves of how we got here. The reforms we're discussing today have been developed by building upon a significant body of planning, consultation, engagement with communities, Traditional Owners, and the energy industry, and we're really grateful for all the feedback we've had from people. Victoria's energy system, if we go to the next slide, is undergoing one of the largest changes in its history. We've not seen anything like this before.
In July 2023, the Victorian Transmission Investment Framework was established. It was a new approach to planning transmission infrastructure and renewable energy development.
In June '24, we released the Victorian Access Regime consultation paper, and that outlined the objectives of a new access framework designed to improve coordination between generation, storage like batteries, and transmission development.
Then in August '25, the first Victorian Transmission Plan was published and identified renewable energy zones, and also the transmission infrastructure that was needed to support Victoria's future energy needs.
Since then, we've consulted on Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines, and access arrangements through the Access and Connections consultation paper, and also what are called the Draft Grid Impact Assessment Guidelines. Sorry, it's all so dry.
But tonight's discussion will go into a bit more detail on it, will reflect that next phase of work and how these reforms are all starting to come together, finally, you might say.
If we go to the next slide. Brilliant.
On 29th of May, the Energy Minister declared five onshore renewable energy zones. As you can see on this map, Central Highlands, Gippsland, North West, South West, and Western, along with the Gippsland Shoreline Renewable Energy Zone.
This is the first time that Victoria has formally declared renewable energy zones. It gives communities and industry greater clarity about where renewable energy projects, such as wind turbines, solar farms, and large-scale battery storage, are most suitable to be located.
In particular, the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan had proposed a renewable energy zone with two sections in the south-west of Victoria, one south-west of Hamilton between Macarthur and Darlington, and one north-west of Hamilton between Casterton and Balmoral, known to that community as the Dundas Tablelands.
The Minister for Energy and Resources has formally declared only the southern section of that zone. She has not declared the Dundas Tablelands. And when deciding not to declare the area known as the Dundas Tablelands, the Minister acknowledged the need to understand in more detail and consult much further on concerns raised by local communities regarding environmental biodiversity values, land use constraints, and potential complexities for any potential projects in that area.
The 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan also proposed a zone in Central North Victoria, and a draft order for that zone has not yet been released for consultation.
The area, Central North remains an area of interest for future renewable energy zone development, and so consultation on the potential declaration of this zone will commence soon.
A quick recap on how these zones were defined over time and how we worked through that.
We started with a very broad study area, identified parts of Victoria with the potential to host new energy infrastructure, and that was a very broad-brush approach and took into account a number of factors. But we invited feedback on that wide study area to help shape the draft proposed zones, which were presented in the draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan.
As part of the consultation on that draft 2025 plan, we invited feedback on those draft proposed zones, and we considered all that feedback before finalising the proposed zones in the final 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan. And then the Minister issued the draft orders we prepared, and they were consulted on for the five onshore zones that I've talked about and the Gippsland Shoreline Zone.
Following that consultation period and taking into account what we heard from different communities, and other factors, we have now finalised those zones for declaration, and the Minister has in fact declared them. And if we jump to the next slide.
The declaration process is a formal step required under the legislation to establish those renewable energy zones in Victoria. It now allows VicGrid to coordinate development across each renewable energy zone, hopefully minimising impacts, delivering meaningful social and economic benefits to the people who live in those zones, and ultimately keeping costs down for consumers.
It will also enable new rules that manage how renewable energy and transmission projects are developed in each zone and will set clear expectations for how developers must engage with communities and landholders and deliver social and economic benefits.
If you go online, you'll see that each of the final orders includes a map of the zone with very clearly defined boundaries, any relevant transmission projects to enable the zone, intended transmission hosting capacity, and this is very important, that reflects how much electricity the transmission network can carry at a given time based on the current infrastructure that's there, but also planned upgrades. And that sets a very hard limit on how much renewable development can be in each zone. And then as well, as I mentioned, the engagement requirements and expectations for project developers.
Worth just noting, I talked about the defined boundaries on those maps. The draft orders didn't really have defined boundaries. It was a bit of a squiggle, for want of a better term.
And so the process to define the boundaries considered all the consultation feedback and used a fairly standard approach to align them with existing administrative and planning features such as roads, local government boundaries, fence lines and so on.
For each declared zone, the Minister for Energy and Resources will publish the reasons for the decision, including how relevant feedback was taken into account, and these statements will be available on the DEECA website, so you'll be able to see that.
So, it just remains for me to thank you again, everybody, for coming along tonight, and I'm looking forward to the question and answer session. And I'll hand over to Geoff Caine, who'll provide an update on the renewable energy zones in the North West region.
Geoff Caine: Thanks for that, Alistair.
Before I jump into the slides, over the last couple of weeks, I have been travelling around the region for a number of information sessions and just wanted to recognise that this is a topic that carries a lot of mixed and strongly held views, and for some people, the final boundaries will be frustrating or disappointing. And so, I just wanted to acknowledge that.
I also wanted to recognise the time, the care, and the local knowledge put into the submissions, the meetings that have been had with VicGrid and the ongoing conversations, and that feedback has been really important in shaping these final declarations and will continue to matter as we move into the next stages of planning.
What I'll provide is a bit of a high level overview, but if you're looking for some more details of the feedback and how it was all considered, we do have a what we heard report, as well as individual renewable energy zone fact sheets and the declaration orders, and the associated statements of reasons that Alistair just spoke about before, all on our website and DEECA's website.
Just to jump into this particular zone [North West Renewable Energy Zone] – this zone includes parts of Swan Hill, Gannawarra, Loddon, Buloke local government areas, and the predominant land use of that area is mostly dryland cropping, and there's some irrigation in there too. So, a lot of this is agricultural land.
It also sits within the Registered Aboriginal Party boundaries of the Wamba Wemba Aboriginal Corporation, the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Clans Corporation, and also an area towards east without formal recognition.
The transmission hosting capacity of the North West renewable energy zone is 1.7 gigawatts. In simple terms, that is the amount of renewable energy generation the planned transmission network is expected to accommodate in that zone, subject to detailed access arrangements still to come.
And the relevant transmission projects associated with this particular renewable energy zone is a proposed rebuild of the 220 kV single circuit transmission line between Kerang and Bendigo terminal station. And also, you can see on that map, the VNI West project too.
This slide that's just popped up just shows the changes made in the final renewable energy zone order process. And during that feedback period, we received around 93 submissions. Lake Meran and Leaghur State Park were raised as really significant environmental and culturally significant areas from part of the broader networks of the lakes, the Ramsar lakes in and around Kerang, and reserves associated with those lake systems. So those boundaries were adjusted to exclude both those features – Lake Meran and Leaghur State Park.
And I guess just at this point, I just want to raise here that the renewable energy zone declarations does not remove the normal statutory planning requirements. Any project still needs to go through its own project-level design, engagement, environmental assessment approvals processes, and doesn't replace any planning scheme zoning. So, if you're in a farming zone, this still remains a farming zone.
Just jumping across to the Western Renewable Energy Zone.
This sits across two sections, that intersects parts of the Northern Grampians area, Yarriambiack, Pyrenees, Hindmarsh, Buloke, and just sits above the Horsham Rural City Council local government area. And again, this area is predominantly dryland cropping with some mixed farming and grazing in there too.
The zone is within the Registered Aboriginal Party boundaries of the Barengi Gadjin Land Council and the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, and the intended transmission hosting capacity for the Western Renewable Energy Zone is 2.4 gigawatts – that's across those two blobs there. And the relevant transmission area of interest proposed is a rebuild of the 220 kilovolt single-circuit line that runs from the Murra Warra wind farm to the Ballarat terminal station there. That'll be a double circuit.
Heading over – so again, this shows the changes made from the draft to the final, particularly in the eastern section. During this feedback period, we received 93 submissions.
Feedback touched on a whole range of topics including biodiversity, cultural landscapes, reserves, land use, water planning, ridge lines, cumulative impacts, particularly around a number of wind farms in the area. And the concerns were particularly focused on the proximity to the Grampians National Park –or Gariwerd Cultural Landscape otherwise known – as well as the Wimmera River, Kara Kara National Park, and some of the high-value conservation areas in and around that area.
So, in response to all that, the boundary was adjusted inwards in several places. You can see that there on the map, the final boundary increases the distance away from the Grampians National Park and the Wimmera River, and excludes sensitive ridge lines around those high biodiversity areas near Kara Kara National Park and the Morrl Morrl Nature Conservation Reserves, and removes a minor overlap with the Joel Joel Conservation Reserve. You can see some significant changes there.
So, they're the two renewable energy zones in the west.
I will now hand over to Helen, who will provide an update on the Gippsland Renewable Energy Zones.
Helen O’Brien: Thanks, Geoff. Good evening, everyone, and thanks again for joining us.
I'm here to provide you an update about our two Gippsland renewable energy zones.
The first one is our declared Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone that's located between Driffield in the West and Fulham in the East, and it includes parts of the local government areas of Wellington, Latrobe City, and South Gippsland Shires. It sits within the Registered Aboriginal Party boundary of the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation.
Like Geoff, I would also like to recognise the time, the local insights, and the passion of our Gippsland community that was poured into submissions, meetings and conversations with the Gippsland team over the past couple of years. It's been a journey, and we greatly value the incredible contribution of our community and key stakeholders in shaping results, but also for their kindness and the honesty brought to those conversations.
We know that Gippsland has traditionally been the home of energy and has a strong legacy of powering the state, which we're excited about building upon with the formal declaration of this Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone.
We already have significant existing energy and transmission infrastructure here, and also the most consistent winds in Australia, both onshore and in the declared offshore wind zone in Bass Strait. This zone has been shaped to capture that advantage.
This next slide talks to the feedback that we've heard over the time that we've been out talking about these renewable energy zones and how we've responded.
I recognise that it is very detailed, but the table is also available in our Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone fact sheet and in more detail in our What We Heard report, which are great reads.
During the conversation around the Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone, we heard concerns around the impact of generation and transmission infrastructure on high value agricultural land. We heard feedback relating to transmission project impacts and how renewable energy and transmission projects can impact the region's character and tourism.
Mental health was raised as a concern with submissions asking for community wellbeing to be considered alongside technical and economic assessments. We heard a strong preference for VicGrid to mitigate potential loss and fragmentation of native vegetation habitats. We also heard feedback regarding bushfire risk and emergency response in the region, which is a common thread to a lot of our conversations in Gippsland. And we also heard a call for consideration of VicGrid policy on projects outside of the zones, including cumulative impacts of multiple projects in small geographic areas. We were also asked to make the renewable energy zone boundaries a little clearer.
So, to develop the Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone and respond to the feedback, we've worked to avoid agricultural areas in this zone, avoided the habitat of significant species, sought to protect significant landscapes that are valued by Gippslandians and visitors, avoided areas with high dwelling density, leveraged the existing transmission network that's already in place and considered options to expand the proposed zone around plantation land. But these suggested changes were not progressed due to being so close to the Sale RAAF base, as well as potential impacts on biodiversity.
So, with this Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone declaration, there have not been big updates to the declared zone just recently, as many of the concerns that have been raised in recent submissions have already been considered and incorporated during the design of the zone.
But a part of applying consistency that Alistair spoke to, we have snapped the Western boundary back to the Baw Baw local government area, as it was already very closely aligned, as well as some to property boundaries, giving that declared zone those square edges.
Again, VicGrid recognises that the declared zone includes sensitive areas that are not appropriate for development, but these will be carefully considered in solar, wind, and battery energy projects planning, design, environmental assessment, and planning approvals processes.
And now for the Gippsland Shoreline Renewable Energy Zone, which is a little different to other zones around the state.
This shoreline renewable energy zone is not designed for onshore wind or solar. It is a defined planning area where offshore wind developers will run underground cables to connect from the shoreline back to the electricity grid. This is in direct response to Gippsland being one of two areas in Victoria that have been declared suitable for offshore wind, and the government intends to release a competitive request for proposal, or an RFP, in August this year for an initial two gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, and that's enough to power 1.5 million homes.
This declared zone is located on the Gippsland coast near Woodside, Darriman, Giffard, and Seaspray. It also sits within the boundaries of the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation and within the Wellington Shire local government area.
The zone’s location has been determined through our work to connect the new offshore wind industry back to the grid at Loy Yang Power Station, and the zone also includes four specific shoreline crossing areas, you can see as indicated in the pink areas on the map, where offshore wind underground cables will come ashore – and they're at Reeves Beach, McGaurans, South-west of Merriman Creek, and at Seaspray Beach. These areas were selected to avoid environmental and culturally sensitive locations and to minimise technical challenges, but more work will be done to assess those shoreline crossing areas from here.
Offshore wind developers must locate their cable crossings within one of these areas, and each developer is now responsible for planning their project and environmental assessments. Only developers who are successful in the Victorian Government's RFP process will be able to proceed.
So, getting offshore wind energy projects connected to the grid does require several components with this all working together. And this diagram shows how, on the far left, how the offshore wind turbines out at sea generate the electricity; array cables connect turbines to offshore substations; these substations collect the electricity for transmission; export cables bring electricity ashore by drilling under the coastline; then the transition joint bays - the underground pits connect offshore to onshore cables; offshore cables will continue underground to the Giffard Terminal Station, as indicated in green on the right-hand side; and the new 500-kilovolt terminal station at Giffard will connect power from offshore wind energy cables back to the grid via VicGrid's two-gigawatt offshore wind transmission project.
During our conversations with community, we have heard a vast amount of feedback on the shoreline zone. We've heard mixed views on the size of the proposed zone, with some calling for it to be bigger and some smaller. We've heard concerns about managing cumulative impacts of onshore cable corridors, concerns about the proximity to ecologically and culturally sensitive areas, including the Ramsar wetlands and nearby coastal reserves. We've heard requests to expand the zone to include areas suited to onshore wind.
We've heard requests for more detailed assessments to be completed before shoreline crossings are confirmed. Requests that onshore wind infrastructure must be mandated to be installed underground in the shoreline zone. Sorry, offshore wind infrastructure underground. And concerns about impacts on sensitive coastal ecosystems and on established townships with requests to relocate some shoreline crossings.
We also had lots of feedback about the new offshore wind industry and how the cumulative impact will create a permanent industrial footprint on a natural landscape, and we have shared these insights with our offshore Wind Energy Victoria colleagues to inform their engagement and work ahead.
In terms of the final declared shoreline zone, the feedback regarding shoreline crossing changes was considered, but no changes to the four proposed crossing areas were made. These crossings were selected to provide flexibility and resilience for offshore wind transmission planning whilst avoiding the most sensitive locations across the coastline. All of the proposed crossing infrastructure will continue to be subject to planning and environmental controls, including working with communities.
In the final Renewable Energy Zone Order, we have clarified that the onshore connection infrastructure between the ocean and the Giffard Terminal station is to be installed underground, giving that assurance to communities that was called for.
As we develop the renewable energy zone scheme process, we will consider how concerns about the location of underground cabling can be appropriately managed, including around townships and farmland, as highlighted in the feedback.
There are also more clear consultation requirements within the shoreline Renewable Energy Zone Order, as it's linked with the Offshore Wind RFP process, and this industry is further progressed in terms of development.
We recognise the importance of the vast feedback provided that may not have been able to be addressed via the Gippsland or shoreline renewable energy zone declaration process, but we commit to working with the Gippsland community on the issues and impacts raised as our policy and project work progresses.
Now, can I please just send out a very big thanks to our Gippsland community again for their incredible contributions to our consultation, which has helped shape both of these zones. The Gippsland team, and I look forward to progressing those next steps with you in the coming months and years.
I'm now going to throw to Monique Halliday to provide an update on the South West region.
Monique Halliday: Thanks, Helen.
Thank you.
So, South West region, as Alistair Parker alluded to earlier, we have two zones within that region. Next slide.
So, if we go to the South West in Victoria, the first zone between south-west of Hamilton, between Macarthur and Darlington, and the one north-west of Hamilton, between Casterton and Balmoral, which as we said earlier, is known to community as the Dundas Tablelands. For that renewable energy zone, the Minister for Energy and Resources has formally declared only the southern section of the zone, which you can see on screen there, which sits between Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation and Gunditj Mirring.
So, if we go to the next slide, you can see that the zone initially only included one section, in an area between Darlington and Branxholme, as part of the draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan. The area is identified as having some of the strongest winds in the state and with existing transmission network capacity. When developing the shape and size of the draft proposed zone, we aimed to carefully balance the need to harness the strong winds, to generate energy while managing the amount of new development to reduce, cumulative impacts for the region.
Through the identification of this zone, we sought to avoid broader habitat areas, areas with concentrated dairy farming, significant landscapes and landforms such as the Grampians and coastal areas.
And so in the final order, as I said – if we go to the next slide – we haven't declared that northern section of, the South West area, and we'll continue to talk to the communities within this area. And in fact, our team is on the ground tonight in Pigeon Ponds – they've just finished an event, where over 60 people attended. So, the conversations will continue, and we'll continue to talk and gather the feedback, particularly that we've heard within the, first half of this year around the suitability of this, area and continue to investigate.
So, if we go to the next slide. And the next one. Thanks, Casey. Sorry, if we can go back. Central, Highlands is the other renewable energy zone within our south-west region, and it's located west and south of Ballarat, as you can see there, it covers part of Golden Plains, Corangamite and Pyrenees local government areas, smaller sections extending into Moorabool, and Colac Otway.
The zone intersects with Registered Aboriginal Parties - Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, and Eastern Maar, and it has strong renewable energy potential. It is expected to play an important role in supporting Victoria's future electricity system.
So, following consultation on the draft Victorian Transmission Plan, we revised the original, shape of the draft proposed zone to remove the area, around Mount Bolton, and Mount Beckworth and added a small section to the south of, the proposed zone instead. These changes considered land use constraints, land availability, community feedback, and likely, preference of generators to connect to the 500 kV line in the south.
For the declared zone, many of these issues raised in submissions were considered, and incorporated during the design of the zone and have not resulted to any further changes of the zone. It's important to remember that the renewable energy zones are broad strategic areas identified for, potential development.
So, we recognise that the declared zone includes sensitive areas that are not, appropriate for development, and these will be carefully considered in future project planning, design, and environmental assessments, and planning approvals processes.
Thanks, Casey. So, declaring renewable energy zones is not the end of the process. Over the next 12 to 24 months, VicGrid will do the following. We'll finalise the rules that the renewable energy projects must follow to develop within a zone, including the requirement to meet expectations outlined in the Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines. We'll set limits on how much renewable energy generation can connect to the network within each zone. We'll monitor the performance of projects who gain access and, review if they're meeting the conditions of their connection agreement – which ties back to that Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines, which we'll talk to in a minute. We'll support the creation of community energy funds and work with communities on how these funds are spent. And we'll continue planning the necessary transmission projects and work with renewable energy project developers to coordinate their infrastructure and minimise environmental and community impacts.
Throughout these steps, we'll continue to engage with communities, Traditional Owners, landholders, industry, and local government. The feedback captured to date will continue to help shape these processes as Victoria progresses towards a coordinated, and fair energy transition. So, everything we've heard to date remains, and that provides a foundation for future processes.
Now, I'll just hand back to Brooke, and we're going to, I think, go to some questions. Back to you, Brooke.
Brooke Hermans: Thanks so much, Mon, and to all of the speakers.
And thanks to those of you who have been putting questions in the chat. We're going to try and get through a couple of those now.
So, Alistair, I think this one will be for you. I can see that Ian Hill has posted a question in the chat, and I think the question's referring to the Western Renewable Energy Zone Transmission line through to Murra Warra, and his question is, "How much energy can be exported into the, 250 kV through that zone?" Are you happy to take that question, Alistair?
Alistair Parker: For sure. I think it was the 220 kV.
Brooke Hermans: Oh, 220. Sorry.
Alistair Parker: And if it is the two 220 kV lines that run through that area, they're really at capacity today. So that's why we have developed the Western Renewable Link and VNI West to increase the capacity.
Geoff, I don't know if... Have I got the wrong end of the stick there?
Geoff Caine: Yeah. No, that's right. And I guess in the Victorian Transmission Plan that we released last year – the '25 one – the 2.4 gigawatts that I mentioned as the capacity limit takes into consideration that upgrade as well as other existing transmission that's already planned. But I guess in terms of what can be exported, I guess that's not a direct exchange because if you have, a best system and other things, but I guess the key point there is the capacity limit will be 2.4 with all those projects considered.
Alistair Parker: With more than is there today.
Brooke Hermans: Okay. Thanks, Geoff and Alistair.
Geoff, you can keep yourself off mute because I think the next one's for you as well.
So, there was a question during your presentation, and it was, from Andrew Gordon, and the question was, "What does it mean now, for projects that were originally proposed in renewable energy zones, particularly relating to the Rubicon-Eildon, area?" Are you happy to answer that, Geoff?
Geoff Caine: Yeah. I think I responded with a written answer to that. But those were original planning zones that the Australian Energy Market Operator produced some time ago, and they have since been superseded by the Victorian transmission planning work, and so they don't currently have a planning status in that sense.
But, depending on the nature of the projects and how far they are in their planning approvals and connections arrangements, some of them may be considered transitional, and we've got some more information coming out about how those projects will be treated as we move towards the new access regime in July ‘27.
And depending on the status of that project, or projects, in that area, they might be subject to a transitional arrangement or what we call a grid impact assessment. So, it'll be a very similar connections test that most developers have to do now to get a connection into the shared network. But, as kind of discussed in the presentation, they'll be also subject to the community engagement and social values tests that are in the Community Engagement and Social Values guide, those 43 requirements there, as well – I guess they're the two main things. But also, the last one there is making sure that they're not impacting the function of renewable energy zones that are on those transmission assets where those projects might be located as well. So, it's kind of a bit of a three-prong requirement they need to pass.
Brooke Hermans: Great. Thanks, Geoff.
And just circling back to that previous question, we had from Ian about the Western Renewable Energy Zone. Deb's followed up with a question in the chat saying, "You mentioned the upgrade of the 220 kV line. Will this be exactly the same location or moved? Is proximity to the line a factor" There's a few questions in this, Geoff.
"Is proximity to the line a factor in the placement of the three renewable options? Who will negotiate with land holders, and is compulsory acquisition involved?” I can come back and remind you of them if you like, but have a go at the first part.
Geoff Caine: That's all right. I'll try and work through these one by one.
So, they won't be in the exact location. But like every project has to go through a process to see, and do the early kind of development phase. But what usually would happen is you've got your existing line, and, because people are relying on that power at the end of it, so that could be Horsham, you can't just de-energise that line and build a structure. This is just a very typical statement, so don't take this as this is, what it'll be, because there'll be a lot more work that will need to be done. But you would build a new transmission string of towers right next to the old ones, with a double circuit, but they'll also be up to a high standard to those that are currently existing. And then once those new lines are energised, the old lines will be decommissioned and removed. And so, in a typical way, that's the way you could think about it. But again, depending on the constraints of easements, there might be some variations to that.
But in terms of the next point, what is the process for us to actually talk to those landholders?
So, we'll go through a bit of a feasibility study just to make sure that the other projects are viable, and then we'll start some early conversations with those landholders around access, the types of studies that you'll need to do to get, approvals through planning schemes, and otherwise, and landholders will be given, usually it'll be a liaison officer, and, we'll go through a process of looking for a project partner that would continue to own or operate the asset. And, that may be a competitive process or we may work with the current transmission operator, which would be AusNet in that part of the world. And they might have that direct relationship with, landholders to provide all that information under the contract guidance of VicGrid, or it could be another partner, depending on if it ends up being a contestable project.
Alistair, do you want to add anything to that in terms of how we work with upgrading existing lines and, how we'll work with landholders and project partners?
Alistair Parker: No, I think you've covered that really well, Geoff.
It will be the first time that we've done an upgrade of this nature to increase the capacity so dramatically, and I think one of the things we've wanted to be really upfront about is it will be quite an intrusive process. It will come back to being a single line, but there'll be a lot of work, as Geoff says, to make sure that people understand the impacts that we work around people's needs as much as we can and so on. But no, I think you described that really well.
Geoff Caine: And just to that last point, I think which was around compulsory acquisition.
So, in most cases we'll try and use the existing easement, and the compulsory acquisition is not the acquisition of land, it's the acquisition of the easement. So, hopefully, in most cases, those powers wouldn't need to be used. But again, depending on the final locations and new easements required, we would have to go through that process.
Brooke Hermans: Okay. Thank you, Geoff and Alistair. And thank you, Deb, for the question.
Helen, I'm going to direct one at you because it's Gippsland related. So, there was a question from Ian Hill, that is "Is it confirmed that renewable energy generation and BESS – or battery energy storage systems – cannot be built inside the shoreline REZ?" Helen, are you happy to answer that?
I am. And I just want to thank Ian Hill for the question and the opportunity just to clarify, in regards to, the shoreline renewable energy zone, because it is a complication in the way that we talk about this. But the shoreline zone doesn't restrict onshore wind, solar, or battery storage projects from seeking to develop in that area. So, the zone is designed to support offshore wind, but it doesn't preclude or restrict those projects from developing.
Once the Victorian Access Regime is in place, the developers of any proposed projects in that zone will be required to apply for a grid impact authority, very similar to any other project outside of a renewable energy zone in Victoria. And they'll need to demonstrate that their projects are unlikely to disrupt generation supplied by the offshore wind projects. And I did provide some links in the chat on where you can see that very clearly. So, hopefully that's a little bit more clear. Thanks again, Ian. Appreciate it.
Brooke Hermans: Thank you, Helen.
And I might come back, Alistair, if you're happy to try and field this one, that would be great.
This question's from Anne Wells, and it's "In the Central Highlands Renewable Energy Zone are upgrades to the 220 kV line, at the Elaine terminal station part of WRL, and are they slated to proceed before 2027?"
Alistair Parker: I don't think they're slated to proceed before 2027. They're not part of the Western Renewable Link process. They're a separate project, designed to increase capacity. And I don't think we had anything – and Carolyn, you might correct me – but I don't think we have anything slated to be finished as early as 2027.
Brooke Hermans: Okay. Thank you, Alistair.
Carolyn Sanders: Not that I'm aware of, Alistair.
Alistair Parker: Thanks, Carolyn.
Also, Brooke, just while I've got the floor, really happy to answer Chris Lang has asked. Oh, it's just vanished, of course, from my screen as I said that. "Will the big recent demand from data centres affect the options for transmission lines? Is there likely to be a second 550”, it's 500, "kV line to Portland? "
Great question. We are seeing really elevated levels of demand from data centres. We did have, in the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, a scenario that looked at the potential for large growth from data centres. So, to some extent, we had started to plan for that, but I suspect the growth has outpaced what we expected.
We did have in the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, an extension of that 500 kV line, I don't think all the way down to Portland, but much of the way down along that. What we said at the time, and we've still really to consult with the community on this properly, is we had had a lot of feedback that we should put new infrastructure close to existing infrastructure, and so we have said we'll examine, if there is a second line, we'll examine whether that can be put close to the existing 500 kV line that runs down to the south-west.
One reason why we might not do that is to have separation between the two lines so that there's more redundancy if one of them gets affected, the other one won't be affected. The classic sort of way of illustrating that is we want them far enough apart that if a jumbo jet, maybe I'm showing my age by saying jumbo jet, but we want them far enough apart that if a jumbo jet crashed into one, it wouldn't damage the other one, as it were.
So, that's a piece of work we need to work through in consultation with the community.
Brooke Hermans: Thanks so much, Alistair.
Now, I realise we haven't got to all of your questions yet, and we will have another chance to come back to questions in a minute, once we finish with another couple of presentations. So, we will come back and try and get through as many as we can, either in the chat or in person.
But for now, I'm going to hand over to Carolyn Sanders, who's the director of the Victorian Transmission Plan, to provide an update about the next Victorian Transmission Plan.
Over to you, Carolyn.
Carolyn Sanders:
Thank you, Brooke.
So, we have started planning for the next Victorian Transmission Plan by releasing the draft Victorian Transmission Plan Guidelines. This document will guide the development of the 2027 Victorian Transmission Plan, which will take a 25-year view of the state's transmission and renewable energy generation needs.
Each time VicGrid updates the Victorian Transmission Plan, we will prepare and consult on a new set of guidelines for the plan.
While the draft 2026 guidelines are largely consistent with those released in 2024, these guidelines include the following key adjustments to how we are planning for the next Victorian Transmission Plan.
So, they include an extended planning period. The 2025 transmission plan took a 15-year outlook, while the 2027 plan will take a 25-year outlook, so it will go till 2052.
The declared renewable energy zones are now in place. So, since the 2025 plan, five onshore renewable energy zones and the Gippsland Shoreline Renewable Energy Zone have been declared, and we heard a bit about those earlier. Rather than starting with a broader study area assessment, the declared zones will serve as the basis for determining whether new areas are needed for generation and storage.
We have the planned transmission projects from the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, which we will build on for the 2027 plan.
There have also been changes in the energy market outlook, as we've just touched on in the Q&A. So, the constantly evolving energy market means that we need updated assumptions about how our energy needs are changing, which includes further consideration of future data centre development.
We also have feedback and inputs gathered from ongoing engagement with community, industry, and Traditional Owners. Our engagement approach will build on these insights and ensure continued engagement throughout the development of the plan.
The approach to developing the 2027 plan remains scenario-based and probabilistic, meaning we will consider a range of possible future energy needs and test different outcomes and uncertainties using energy market modelling, power system analysis, and strategic land use analysis with refreshed inputs and assumptions.
Once the draft guidelines are released publicly – they have actually been released publicly, and we are inviting feedback on the submissions. That feedback is open now, and it would be great if you would like to take a look at those guidelines and send us some feedback.
I'll now hand back to Monique Halliday, to talk about the Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines.
Monique Halliday:
Thanks, Carolyn.
You may have seen last week that VicGrid and DEECA did release the final Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines.
The guidelines set out the Victorian Government's minimum expectations of project developers in how they engage with communities and create social value and economic benefits. The guidelines apply to: generation, storage, and hybrid projects seeking access to the grid; transmission developers partnering with VicGrid to deliver projects, forming part of the declared shared network or network services.
They can also be used by communities, landholders, Traditional Owners, neighbours, and businesses to understand the expectations VicGrid has set for developers.
Up until now, projects seeking to connect to the grid did not need to demonstrate how they would engage with the landholders, Traditional Owners, neighbours, communities, or how they would provide social value and economic benefits to local communities.
As part of the Victorian Access Regime, VicGrid will require all projects applying for grid access to meet the expectations in these guidelines.
Initially published in 2021, the document that had a similar intention, to provide a benchmark for what was expected in Victoria – but it was written back in 2021, and it did need a refresh, and that's exactly what we set out to do.
So, we sought public comment on the revised Draft Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines between September and November last year. And some of you may have been in those sessions that we held, because we held roundtables, workshops with community members, local governments, Traditional Owners, representatives working with Traditional Owner groups and industry as well. And we received around 162 submissions and engaged through a whole host of channels, including webinars, meetings in person and online.
The final guidelines have been published, are available on our website, and we'll drop the link in the chat, and we will review them every three years, or more frequently as required, to ensure they remain aligned with evolving community expectations, industry practices, policy settings, and the needs of the energy transition.
So, throughout the consultation, we listened and made tangible changes as a result. And on structure and clarity, stakeholders told us the guidelines needed to be more explicit about scope, enforcement, and what success looks like. And in response, we tightened the language, strengthened expectations, and reoriented the guidelines around outcomes rather than just process.
On engaging with the broader community, we heard a clear ask for clearer definitions and more meaningful engagement, not just more engagement.
We've responded by adding clearer definitions and setting stronger expectations for early and transparent engagement and introducing measures to actively reduce consultation fatigue, which we know has been a recurring concern for communities across the state.
On engaging with landholders and neighbours, the feedback pointed to gaps around transparency, protections, and liability. And we've addressed this directly, strengthening protections, improving how information is shared, and introducing new public liability provisions that weren't there before, and as I understand, are a first for Victoria and represent a whole lot of work that's been done in partnership with the Insurance Council of Australia and insurance brokers as well.
On Traditional Owners, we heard the message was clear – self-determined processes need to be central to energy transition, not treated as a checkbox. So, we've done the work to strengthen expectations to reflect that, with clearer guidance on what prioritising self-determined agreement making actually means in practice.
And finally, on social value and economic benefits, proponents wanted clear guidance on community benefit commitments and how decisions get made. And we've provided more detailed guidance on budget setting and flagged where additional guidance will follow.
So, you can see they're not just cosmetic changes. They've actually been quite substantive responses to what we heard.
So, in terms of what this means for our partners and stakeholders. Communities can expect to have a say in shaping how the transition impacts them and greater transparency about when and how they can influence decisions. That's something we heard very clearly was around transparency, information that is clear and digestible, early, so that they can make informed decisions.
Landholders can expect to have a say in shaping how the transition impacts and benefits them, again with that greater transparency, and to be free to discuss project details with other community members without contractual restrictions.
And Traditional Owners, prioritisation of agreement-making, and a process that reflects self-determination expectations and a greater consideration of cultural heritage and values, in project planning and decision-making.
And industry will get greater clarity of what the expectations are as they're engaging in the energy transition in Victoria and the expectations around creating social value and economic benefits for the communities where they are active, and increased accountability to deliver on those commitments.
So, as I mentioned, up until now, projects seeking to connect to the grid, did not need to demonstrate how they would engage with landholders, Traditional Owners, neighbours, communities, or how they would provide social value and economic benefits to local communities.
As part of the Victorian Access Regime, expected to commence from July next year, VicGrid will require all projects applying for grid access to meet the expectations in the guidelines.
Developers tendering to partner with VicGrid to deliver transmission projects as part of the declared shared network will also need to demonstrate how they meet the expectations, and we'll be monitoring those. So, between now and then, we'll work with project developers to ensure their engagement is consistent with the new guidelines and get them working towards meeting those expectations. And it is continual improvement as we deliver this transition, which is over a good 25 years. So, this is a really great place to be starting from, and it will continue to evolve and as I said, we'll update it every three years, but if we need to update it sooner, we will do that.
Thanks, Casey.
So, next steps, we're inviting feedback on the 2026, draft VTP guidelines.
So, VicGrid's, currently we're taking feedback on submissions for the draft Victorian Transmission Plan guidelines – the 2026 guidelines. And those submissions will be taken until Friday the 26th of June, and you can visit the Engage Victoria website, which we'll again drop the link in the chat for you to be able to contribute to the guidelines. And really we're looking for feedback on clarity around the guidelines.
Is it clear what we're trying to achieve in setting out the methodology for future planning for the 2027 Victorian Transmission Plan?
Our teams are on the ground at the moment, we have three regions across the state that we serve, with people on the ground doing place-based engagement.
So, we have teams in the North West, in Gippsland, and in the South West. And they are continuing to be in communities all the way through till October this year, and we are there to answer your questions, walk you through the renewable energy zones and what happens next, talk about the 2026 Victorian Transmission Plan Guidelines, what they mean, help build an understanding around the Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines, and what they are trying to achieve, but also listen to what you're experiencing in your own communities. And so, we'll continue to do that. I think if you're, in any of those regions, if you haven't met our teams, please reach out and we'd love to be able to come and have a conversation with you.
And then finally, I just wanted to mention, as Alistair alluded to earlier, the Central North Renewable Energy Zone, which was part of the final 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan, that draft has not been formally declared, so we haven't done the consultation for that zone yet. It has not opened. We still need to do that work. So, as soon as we know when that process is going to open, we will inform those communities, and we'll work with the local governments in that area to make sure that everyone has the information they need.
Thanks, Casey.
So, as always, you can visit Engage Vic for all of our open consultations. You can email us: enquiries@vicgrid.com.au, or you can call us, on the 1800 number there [1800 418 341], which will put you through to a member of our team.
But just really wanted to take the opportunity to thank everybody who's provided, feedback to date, and just been so generous in giving up time when we've been either in community or providing submissions, which have really contributed to the six policy, outcomes, that Alistair showcased when we opened.
So, I think that's all from me, I'm going to hand back to Brooke.
Brooke Hermans:
Thank you, Mon, and thank you, Carolyn, for your presentation, and thank you to the audience who are keeping the Q&As coming, which is going to keep our panellists busy.
So, Geoff, I'm going to come back to you because there's a follow-up question from Deb. I think we missed part of her question in our response that Deb's keen to understand.
This was about the Western Renewable Energy Zone and the 220 kV line. And Deb would like to know "Is the proximity to the line a factor in the placement of the three renewable energy projects?"
Geoff Caine:
Yeah, thanks, Brooke. And I did just clarify and did provide a response to that. So, maybe we'll go to the next question. But in short, yes, it does, because it means they have to build less infrastructure to connect to our declared shared network. So, it's just the further away, the bigger the cost of the project. And the further away you are from the declared shared network, or main infrastructure, the more costly it is and commercially it makes it more tenuous.
Brooke Hermans:
Thank you, and thanks for double answering. Now Alistair, can you help us with this one?
So, someone has noted that the capacity for the Central Highlands Renewable Energy Zone is slated at four gigawatt, and is asking if you know, or if anyone on, the panel knows "How many gigawatt is already built, including projects currently being constructed?"
Alistair Parker:
Great question. And we did in fact publish some, material at the time of the Victorian Transmission Plan, so it was up to date at that time. I don't think it will have changed too much. And at that time, there was half a gigawatt of wind and solar that was already in service in that zone. There was about 1.4 gigawatts of wind and solar that was 'committed', is a phrase we use, so that means it's got connection agreements, it's got planning approvals. It's at that point, where it's very likely to move to construction.
Our study says once people reach committed, it's very unlikely that they don't then develop the project. And, we had different levels [scenarios], so yes, the capacity is that four gigawatts, but depending on how much electricity is needed for the state over the next 15 - 20 years, kind of affects how much of that capacity we would expect to see taken up.
So, in the sort of base scenario, we expected to see a, further 0.6 gigawatts taken up. If we had one of those really high-demand scenarios, it might be as high as, two [gigawatts] taking into account the already developed stuff.
Brooke Hermans:
Thanks, Alistair. While I've got you, though, we've got a whole range of questions about data centres, and I think we could maybe ask for some commentary on that.
So, the first one is "Is locating the new data centres going to be inside these new renewable energy zones?"
Alistair Parker:
So, there's nothing in renewable energy zones that, expresses a view on whether data centres should or should not locate there.
From what I can gather of my learning about the data centre world, the four big things really are: available land with neighbouring uses that don't restrict the use of the data, centre; the availability of power, really critical to them; the availability of large fibre facilities nearby; and, the availability of water.
So, you can look at the renewable energy zones, the ones in the north-west of the state. There aren't any real fibres running through that area, and so I think it would be pretty unlikely for data centres to locate there. Some sort of excitable developer might try, but I think it's unlikely if the fibre isn't there. When you look at the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland, there is large amounts of fibre through there, and there's availability of land at old power station sites and so on, so you might see some develop there. And there's a recently developed cable down in the southwest of the state, so you might see some start to develop around some of the terminal stations there.
But just to emphasise, we aren't designing renewable energy zones for data centres. We are silent on whether they would come into a renewable energy zone. I think that's something that those data centre developers will work through, and not something that we would drive.
So, I think there's a question there about when we were declaring renewable energy zones, did we consider water availability for data centres? And the straightforward answer is no, because we don't expect renewable energy zones to attract of themselves data centres.
Brooke Hermans:
Thank you, Alistair. You answered my next question, so that's really helpful.
I will throw in one though, from Ian Hill, which was around "any thoughts on insisting that data centres have to throttle back when grid demand is high or delivery is down, and/or need to have their own renewable energy sources. 60-odd generators for one proposal seems like total overkill re greenhouse gases".
Alistair Parker:
Great question, Ian, and I'll answer it expansively, Brooke, if I could.
The Commonwealth government and the Victorian government, among others, are talking about requirements on data centres - that they will need to bring their own renewable energy. They'll need to enter into power purchase agreements to make sure they're providing enough renewable energy.
We have set, as VicGrid, technical standards for how they operate and how they play their part in maintaining system security. That was a first in Australia. I'm really pleased that we've done that, because it means that these data centres can operate safely from a wider electricity supply point of view. And yes, we are seeing examples where the data centres are agreeing that they will throttle back on hot days or high-demand days, because in fact, their workload is kind of unrelated to the temperature, whereas things like air conditioning and so on are very related to the temperature. So, I've heard of examples of data centres signing contracts where they have agreed they will throttle back, when asked to by the network business for up to five days a year, which is quite extraordinary compared to other electrical loads that we see. Really, data centres have developed and emerged really fast in terms of major electrical loads, and I'm really pleased over the last year I've seen the demands that we are putting on data centres really start to catch up. And I think we're in the forefront of making sure that when data centres connect to the wider network, they don't increase, and in fact, hopefully reduce electricity prices for everybody else, because their nature, they can play quite a role in the development of the system, and making sure that they don't impose reliability issues or problems on anybody else.
Brooke Hermans:
Thanks, Alistair, and thanks for everyone's questions so far. I am going to just pull out a couple of comments that I've seen in the Q&A, and some of that's feedback. I'd love to be able to put a question mark behind it. I'll see if I can.
So, there's a comment in there around that someone appreciates the progress with the Community Engagement and Social Values Guidelines, but is commenting that it doesn't go far enough, and that developers, for the most part, don't really care from 15 years lived experience and observations. And that requirements for explicit, mandatory and measurable, while expectations are subjective and not enforceable.
Mon, would you be happy to talk about the Community Engagement and Social Values Guidelines and what's in there?
Monique Halliday:
Yeah, sure.
I think that is a fair comment, and it's exactly what has driven us to reinvigorate these guidelines and commit to then reviewing them every three years and sooner if we need to.
Developers will need to demonstrate to VicGrid that they can meet these expectations to be granted access to the grid. So, there is a real incentive for them to continue to meet expectations and as I said, we will be monitoring that.
We'll be holding developers accountable for commitments they make to meet the expectations set out in those guidelines. We'll be putting in place assessment, monitoring, and compliance processes. We'll have a team dedicated to that, to ensure developers stick to the conditions of their access agreements. And when they don't, there will be fines, and we will again monitor that and the progress of that continual improvement.
Project operators will be required to report on how they're tracking and how they're meeting those government expectations. And again, there'll be a monitoring process that's put in place to review their performance.
So, I do appreciate that comment, and it is a start. And, we're really working to make sure that we have full, visibility and that we can monitor behaviour and help uplift all of the activity that we're seeing across the state.
That really is the intention of these guidelines over time.
Brooke Hermans:
Thanks, Mon. And there's also a comment in there, Mon, about, "10 days open for feedback is far, far too little for farmers dealing with winter feeds, calving and lambing."
And that "it's unrealistic and will limit the amount of feedback that you receive". Is that something you're able to comment on?
Monique Halliday:
Sure. Look, we try and align our consultation periods and consultation and engagement, and we very much try and do that with an awareness of what's happening out in regional communities.
The draft Victorian Transmission Plan guidelines were released on the 29th of May, and so if you're on our mailing list, you would have got an email, an EDM – electronic digital mailing – with all of the links.
That said, the guidelines are the start of the 2027 Victorian Transmission Plan process and as I said, it is the, methodology around the 2027 Victorian Transmission Plan. It is very technical and so it's not like the first one where it was the first one and it was very detailed. We've already delivered this first one. So, it's not a big piece, targeting and focused on the community because it's much more technical.
Where I think we are looking for community feedback and engagement is on the draft 2027 Victorian Transition Plan. That will be the one that we will require feedback from the community because that's the next iteration of the Victorian transmission planning process.
But look, in saying that, if people pick up the draft guidelines and they really would like to provide a submission or feedback, please get in touch and we can have a chat about how we might be able to accommodate everything else that's going on for you and still be able to garner your feedback.
Brooke Hermans:
Thanks so much, Mon, and thank you again to everyone for their feedback and questions.
I note that there's a bit of feedback in the Q&A that absolutely the team will take away and review and have a look at in line with providing that feedback in this public setting. So, really appreciate that feedback as well.
Alistair, before I point people towards how they can get any outstanding questions answered, is there anything else that you wanted to add to that, or any other things you wanted to close out with?
Alistair Parker:
I would like to just quickly answer Chris Lang's questions about “solar storms are said to have an effect on the stability of long transmission lines”. This is an area I'm quite interested in as well. They do, and they particularly have an effect on, oddly enough, east-west running transmission lines. And we do, in Australia, obviously, we have some very long transmission lines. And so, the Australian Energy Market Operator does have a program of watching out for these storms and also thinking about ways to operate the system that mitigate their harm. But they are a genuine thing and something that people have to kind of plan around.
Brooke Hermans:
Great. Thanks, Alistair, and sorry I missed that one, Chris.
Thank you for the question.
Alistair Parker:
I see, Chris, you've mentioned the Carrington Event. Yes. Long before we had electricity systems everywhere. That would be quite a difficult thing for us all.
Brooke Hermans:
Great. Thank you, Alistair. Thank you, Chris.
I'm going to let you all go back to your evenings. Thank you so much for your time tonight and coming along and continuing to provide feedback and being interested in the process. We really appreciate your attendance.
If you have any outstanding questions that haven't been answered tonight, please email them through to enquiries@vicgrid.com.au.
Really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
Have a good evening.
Alistair Parker:
Thanks all, really appreciate your time. Thanks a lot.
Page last updated: 25/06/26