More than 200 kilometres of transmission lines to connect numerous renewable projects in western New South Wales has been given the green light by the state government.
The Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) has become the first in Australia to secure planning approval for the transmission lines.
The approval means construction can start on the powerlines and associated infrastructure that will connect multiple renewable projects from Dubbo to Mudgee to the electricity grid.
While some affected landowners are still concerned about the project’s transmission lines, 97 per cent have signed in-principle agreements to have parts of their land acquired.
Signed under duress
Despite signing the agreement in May, Birriwa farmer Stuart Hackney said it was done under duress.
“We’ve been forced to sign with a gun to our head,” Mr Hackney said.
“I’ve been fighting against them [EnergyCo] for the past 18 months with their compulsory acquisition card waiving in the air all the time.”
Three high-voltage transmission lines are planned to run through the middle of his property.
Mr Hackney said it will impact 100 acres out of 550 acres of arable land, with certain machinery not recommended to drive under the power lines.
“If you’re going to try and sow a crop under it, you might not be able to harvest it,” he said.
He regretted signing the agreement.
“As far as we’re concerned they were pretty much going to do it regardless of what we said anyway.
“It’s just been a rushed situation that they wanted to get happening.”
Work will go ahead on farmer Colin Seis’s property north of the small town of Gulgong.
He said while it impacted a small section of his property, he believed the infrastructure would still decrease his land value significantly.
He said it was a shame to see the project traverse productive farming country.
“It’s certainly not good going through good agricultural land,” Mr Seis said.
The Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) was established to lead the delivery of the NSW government’s REZ projects.
Its executive director of planning and communities, Ash Albury, said it had addressed landholders’ concerns with affected individuals.
Broadly speaking, concerns were held about the cumulative impacts on water, housing, and the environment.
“We’ve made significant amendments to the transmission line alignment through the process,” Mr Albury said.
“In terms of housing, we’ve made sure that we’ve got good, appropriate, and well-located workers’ camps across the rows.”
Construction will start later this year, with the REZ project expected to be operational by 2028.
Initial backlash
Of the 401 submissions to the Central West Orana REZ Transmission project, 370 were opposed.
Mr Albury says EnergyCo had worked to please landowners wherever it could.
“We’ve worked really hard with landowners to try and get the best possible outcomes across the region, and I think that’s evidenced by the fact that there was a 97 per cent in-principle agreement on the acquisition of the easements,” he said.
Compensation was offered to Mr Seis early on in his dealings with EnergyCo, but Mr Seis believed the company’s initial offering was undervalued.
He had the land re-valued by an outside company, and the offer of compensation tripled.
“They have finally offered reasonable compensation for those lines, although it was a bit of a battle,” he said.
“They should have given an honest valuation in the first place.”
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