General News
30 August, 2024
First green energy project approved under accelerated government push
Victoria's new renewable approval process bypasses normal checks.
The Victorian government has chosen a renewables project with little apparent impact on productive farmland for its new fast-tracked approval process which bypasses normal planning checks.
Premier Jacinta Allan unveiled the new policy back in March and this week a battery storage project, bigger than anything yet operating in Australia, was the first to be approved under the process.
The battery is to be located at the Bulgana Terminal Station at Joel Joel, 23km east of Stawell.
The ACEnergy battery project was processed from start to finish in nine weeks.
The government says the faster process provides "investment certainty" for the renewable energy industry.
All new renewable projects in Victoria are now classed by government as significant economic development, projects - removing the planning panel process and third-party appeals at VCAT.
"It ensures objections that have been resolved or dealt with don't get stuck in VCAT at the end of the process during the final 'notice of decision' stage - which in some instances has added two years to delivery," Premier Allan said.
"Third party objections will still have a place in the approvals process, but this change prevents time-consuming and repeated delays that hold these projects back for years."
A 350 megawatt battery has been approved for construction at Joel Joel, bigger than any battery currently operating in Australia.
The $250 million battery in the Northern Grampians will "leverage the existing Bulgana Terminal Station and the Bulgana to Ballarat powerline".
The battery will store energy and release it to the existing 220kV network during peak demand.
Its builder ACEnergy says the 10 hectares of land for the Joel Joel battery "was secured" in 2022.
The adjacent Bulgana terminal station is key to the VNI West transmission line project to link wind and solar projects in the west to the national grid.
The final route of the controversial power line from Bulgana across the west to cross into NSW at Kerang is expected to be announced next month.
Bulgana already has a much smaller battery combined with a wind farm operated by Neoen.