Touted as the State’s most expensive energy project ever, Transgrid’s HumeLink is a $4-5 billion economic disaster, benefiting only Transgrid’s foreign corporate owners who will see a 20-40% jump in revenue, according to Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University.
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Transgrid is owned by a consortium of foreign companies comprised of Spark Infrastructure, Utilities Trust of Australia (New Zealand), CDPQ (Canada), Tawreed Investments Limited (United Arab Emirates), and OMERS (Canada).
STOP! WE NEED TO RETHINK HUMELINK NOW.
As we strive to meet our greenhouse targets as a nation, we must ensure that we build Australia’s renewable energy future based on sustainable, efficient infrastructure and proper planning, not flawed economic modelling and short-term thinking.
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The current Transgrid HumeLink plan fails these objectives and is solely driven by minimising upfront costs to get the thing done and start profits pouring in, with no consideration of environmental or community impacts.
Welcome to the MOST expensive energy infrastructure project ever!
It is an economic disaster that will require intense ongoing maintenance and associated high costs. The current plan is solely driven by minimising upfront costs to get the project done and have profits start pouring in.
In fact, the HumeLink Alliance believes undergrounding is a cheaper long-term option when you consider that it would:
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Have significantly less impact on endangered species, local communities and industries
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Generate savings from far fewer electricity outages
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Cost much less in ongoing maintenance
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Reduce energy losses in transmission that have been established in other studies
SAY GOODBYE TO TOURISM...
HUMELINK WILL DIRECTLY IMPACT TOURISM
It also fails to assess the impact on tourism, a significant growth industry for regional NSW, with the number of visitors increasing 41% from 2014 to 2019 and an expenditure of $14.3 billion in 2019. The Snowy Mountains in the South East and Tablelands region have been selected as iconic locations to promote regional Australia; HumeLink will industrialise iconic landscapes.
The primary considerations should be minimising the impacts on the environment and endangered species, the increased fire risks, cost to local communities and prime agricultural land and the long-term maintenance costs.
FAILS THE SNIFF TEST
And it's not approved by the relevant Federal and State Planning Authorities
Instead, it is looking for a rubber stamp from the NSW Minister for Planning, hiding behind the guise of a State significant project that avoids proper scrutiny and all normal planning laws, completely removing the rights of families and communities that have lived and worked in these areas for generations
FLIES IN THE FACE OF FACTS
It also flies in the face of the recent report by the NSW Legislative Assembly, “Sustainability of energy supply and resources in New South Wales”, which concludes: “The NSW Government should make sure that transmission infrastructure projects don’t result in price rises for consumers, or impact on network reliability.”
The project also claims competition benefits that are unlikely to be met because the market is changing quickly and eroding any economic argument with new projects emerging, such as the Andrew Forrest-backed 635 MW Port Kembla Gas/Hydrogen Power Station.
If fact, The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) consulted with stakeholders on the inclusion of competition benefits in the Integrated System Plan (ISP) cost-benefit analysis in October 2021 and, as a result, concluded, ‘AEMO has not included competition benefits in the assessment…….due to the significant uncertainty surrounding key assumptions’.
HumeLink also threatens to destroy millions of dollar’s worth of previous investments and regional assets including:
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At least five aircraft landing sites – some used for firefighting – will be unusable
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Six remnant native vegetation areas
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Some 20 historical sites (including some graves and indigenous significant sites
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A nationally important wetland
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Numerous Landcare projects
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Dams used to fill water tankers for firefighting in the Gilmour area; and
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A regional cricket ground built to play games to raise funds for Beyond Blue.
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We insist that Transgrid and our politicians do the right thing for future generations of Australians and put the cables underground like they do in Europe, Asia, California and many other forward-thinking jurisdictions around the world.
UNDERGROUND IS THE PROGRESSIVE OPTION
Adopting undergrounding would consolidate the progressive, new-technology, clean and green thrust of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. This would have significant advantages, including:
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Significantly reduce the threat of bushfires
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Reduce outages caused by weather events like lightning, bushfires, storms, extreme winds etc. Such events are expected to become more frequent and intense with climate change, causing more outages, physical damage, more repair costs and lost revenue, sometimes costing tens of millions from a single event.
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Undergrounding allows the use of DC current, meaning less power is lost while moving around the grid
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Cut ongoing maintenance costs, including land clearing
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Reduce visual impacts
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No cables hanging overhead to impose on agricultural operations, use of machinery, and aircraft personnel safety.
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Avoid the need for the Cable Yard and overhead transmission lines, thereby saving the Project cost of $125 million.
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Little to no electromagnetic field impacts
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A much-reduced easement size
ALREADY ADMITTED THEY WERE WRONG
Following the release of its new undergrounding report, Transgrid has already admitted being wrong by as much as 50% in its initial underground costing, but we believe the real cost would be substantially lower again, with new work done in Europe and the United States indicating it can be done a lot more efficiently.
Renewable energy must be about end-to-end delivery, not just generation. True green energy must be delivered in an environmentally
friendly way.
This is why we need to Stop! Rethink
HumeLink now!
And why we as a community are increasing pressure to ensure power transmission lines are placed underground with a highly organised new structure that follows world best-practice.
STOP HUMELINK TOWERS; UNDERGROUND, NOT OVERHEAD
#stoprethinkhumelink
It impacts approximately 2500 hectares of land - an area the size of Wollongong - including clear-felling areas of native forests and national parks, with severe impacts on habitat for more than 80 threatened or endangered species, greenhouse gases and global warming.
ADD YOUR VOICE
We must tell the NSW and Federal Government to stop and rethink HumeLink now!
DONATE
STOP! Rethink HumeLink Now! Is a grassroots community-based campaign, developed by HumeLink Alliance and HumeLink Action Group and self-funded by the public. Transgrid is a foreign-owned, multi-billion dollar company. We need your support to have our voices heard.
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PETITION
Add your signature to demand that HumeLink places these powerlines underground.