Vol. No. Vol. 2318No. 33 27
FREE PUBLICATION
A FREE PUBLICATION FROM YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS 3WM AND MIXXFM
Wednesday,February January 24, 13, 2021 2016 Wednesday,
UNIQUE COMMENTARY: Geoff ‘Chick’ Miller and six-month-old sulphurcrested cockatoo ‘Georgia’ share their thoughts while watching Grampians Cricket Association action at Ararat’s Gordon Street Recreation Reserve on Saturday. Ararat municipal leaders are keen to transform the Gordon Street precinct into one of western Victoria’s premier sporting grounds. Story, page 13. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Power potential W
BY DEAN LAWSON
immera-southern Mallee development leaders believe the region would be primed for massive socio-economic growth if details in a government ‘directions’ paper became reality.
They are confident the plans, based on switching Victoria’s electricitygeneration heart from coal-fired stations in the state’s east to renewableenergy farms in the west, represented millions, or even billions, of dollars in investment opportunities. Their assessment came after the release of the paper for a Victorian Renewable Energy Zones Development Plan.
Wimmera Development Association executive director Chris Sounness said there was particular excitement about the paper’s identification of a stage-one need to increase a Western Victorian Transmission Network Project from North Ballarat to Bulgana, near Great Western, to carry 500 kilovolts of power instead of 220kV. Mr Sounness said the expansion, expected to cost between $132-million and $308-million if it happened, would remove barriers to the Wimmera and southern Mallee becoming part of a new Victorian renewableenergy engine room. He said the proposal would enable the connection of up to an extra 1200 megawatts of renewable-energy pro-
jects beyond what was already in operation or planned. “Doubling the size of the project from 220 to 500kV gives a lot more bang for the buck and dramatically increases the capacity of renewable energy that can be generated in the broader Wimmera,” he said. “It would provide a gateway to industry and that equates to jobs, careers, growth and diversifying economies. “If all the recommendations in this directions paper came to pass it would lead to many dreams being realised.” The development association, in discussing regional circumstances with various renewable-energy developers, has long identified electrical infra-
structure as a fundamental barrier to the industry expanding. In essence, ageing powerlines and support infrastructure are all but at capacity for the amount of power they can carry. Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership chair David Jochinke said the key to making the most of renewable energy was unlocking future opportunity. “We don’t want an upgrade that simply meets current requirements. We want one that meets requirements that unlock multiple future projects and developments,” he said. The directions paper is based on a State Government commitment to developing six renewable energy zones.
These include Ovens Murray, V1, Murray River, V2, Western Victoria, V3, South West, V4, Gippsland, V5 and Central North, V6. The government is working with the Australian Energy Market Operator on a priority-projects list to support renewable-energy zones to strengthen the transmission network and resolve network connection issues causing project delays. It has identified a system-stabilising synchronous condenser in Horsham, costing between $32-million and $76-million, among immediate network investment needs. Continued page 5
IN THIS ISSUE • Horsham councillors against merger • Three milestone celebrations • Tennis upset
artisanHP942
Phone: 03 5382 1351 Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
AUDITED: 22,507 COPIES
April 2020 to September 2020
Source: AMAA; CAB Total Distribution Audit for further information visit www.auditedmedia.org.au
manicure and pedicure no appointment necessary
HORSHAM
PLAZA K MART • SPOTLIGHT • THE REJECT SHOP BEST AND LESS • SPECIALTY STORES WWW.HORSHAMPLAZA.COM.AU DARLOT STREET HORSHAM
RICHWELL SPA located opposite sanity