RENEWABLE energy projects should not be on irrigated land used for intensive food production, an inquiry shaping Victoria’s transmission plan guidelines has been told.
The final engagement report says feedback included negative experiences with renewable energy developers with bad impacts on community. 
“Some community members said they felt developers had taken advantage of vulnerable landholders after a past flood event when they weren’t in a state of mind to ‘think clearly’,” according to the report released late last month.
The VicGrid report’s section on the Loddon Campaspe region, which includes Loddon Shire where the controversial VNI West renewable energy transmission line will pass and companies made approaches to farmers in 2024 for talks on hosting wind farms, there was feedback about impacts on social cohesion of their communities. 
“Questions were raised about whether subsidies were being paid to generation companies, and whether communities hosting infrastructure would receive any tangible benefits,” the report said.
Agriculture and land use, biodiversity and natural environment and impact of renewable energy projects on region’s emerged as major touch points during the VicGrid study.
The report said: “This final report provides an update to the interim engagement report, and contains more detailed information about the study area, including regional insights reflecting the place-based engagement that has taken place over the 10-week consultation period.
“Impact is felt differently across regions depending on experience with previous generation and transmission projects. 
“Feedback from communities associated with the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West (VNI West) and the Western Renewables Link (WRL) is very focused on specific experiences related to those projects. 
“Other communities experiencing strong interest from generation developers focused feedback on those interactions and associated impacts.
“Some people voiced strong concerns that hosting more renewable generation would significantly impact their sense of place and community, wellbeing, culture, ways of living and connection to country because of transmission and generation infrastructure dominating the landscape. 
“While other themes tend to show a greater degree of regional nuance, this theme is consistent across the state and expresses a sense that regions are shouldering the burden of the transition and are feeling that their region already has its share of projects.”
A draft of the first Victorian Transmission Plan will be published early this year.
Vic Grid said: “It will ensure Victoria has the right infrastructure in the right place at the right time to support the transition to renewable energy. It will also ensure we are not building more than Victoria needs – so we can maximise the benefits of the transition to renewables, while minimising the impacts to communities and minimising costs to energy users.
“The planning and development of renewable energy zones will enable a co-ordinated approach, beyond the constraints of traditional network planning, that will help enable Victoria’s strong pipeline of new power supply to be built and operating in time to provide reliable power when large ageing coal-fired power stations retire.”
The report said feedback about regional opportunity included both support for the benefits communities could receive from hosting generation and transmission “as well as doubts about whether benefits would truly be delivered”.