“As many have astutely commented, there will be no transition without transmission, this is why Transgrid is making the bold and necessary transformation to enable the fast-tracking of the critical infrastructure backbone of the Nation’s clean energy future.”
Transition acceleration
Transgrid’s strategy is driven by the needs of our customers and ultimately all Australians, who are reliant on our sector to deliver cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy to their homes and businesses.
As the nation transitions from fossil fuels to renewables – now faster than expected – Transgrid’s role in connecting renewable energy sources to the grid is critical to enabling a successful and timely transition. Likewise, our renewables business Lumea, is helping deliver the infrastructure that will enable periods of 100 per cent instantaneous renewable generation by 2025.
In FY22, Transgrid responded to this reality by building the infrastructure to enable the integration of existing and future wind, solar and hydro power. Our transmission projects: EnergyConnect, HumeLink and Victoria to NSW Interconnector West will get energy to market, filling the gap left as coal-fired generators are retired. These projects will form the country’s energy superhighway.
In June 2022, construction started on Australia’s largest electricity grid project, the $1.8 billion EnergyConnect interconnector, which will enable the sharing of energy between NSW, South Australia and Victoria for the first time. This critical project will allow the integration of renewables in the state’s south-west and provide the best chance of meeting the nation’s clean energy targets while helping to drive down the cost of wholesale electricity.
During the year, we progressed planning for the VNI West project, which will enable more energy sharing between NSW and Victoria. This will converge in Wagga Wagga with EnergyConnect and another Integrated System Plan priority project, HumeLink.
HumeLink is a key component in a robust, resilient and reliable future grid. It will enable the successful and rapid integration of new, clean energy from renewable energy zones and unlock the full capacity of Snowy 2.0. This energy, from wind, hydro and solar farms, will be shared across NSW, the ACT and the broader National Electricity Market.
Together with the other energy market stakeholders, we are bringing forward infrastructure delivery schedules and driving innovation at pace.
This rapid acceleration is essential to meeting the Government’s 2030 target of cutting emissions by 43 per cent, which means boosting renewable electricity production to 82 per cent of our electricity supply.
In this era of rapid change, Transgrid is also ensuring supplies continue to be safe, secure and reliable for consumers throughout the energy transition.
Planning for this critical decade
As the authority on the NSW power system, we provide advice and direction to keep the power on through a rapidly evolving environment.
With acceleration front-of-mind, we have been investigating a proposal to integrate HumeLink, EnergyConnect and VNI West into a single simultaneous program, delivering the projects earlier and cheaper, which will help put further downward pressure on consumer bills and kickstart the Australian Government’s Rewiring the Nation strategy.
We have progressed our draft 2023-28 Revenue Proposal, which sets out our planned expenditure, revenues and transmission prices for the next regulatory period. If approved by the Australian Energy Regulator, our proposal will deliver a safe, secure and reliable service while supporting the energy transition and addressing our key operational challenges and the customer priorities. It will also upgrade our network to address high load growth, allowing us to continue to meet voltage stability, thermal limits and reliability standards.
Prioritising community benefits and business sustainability
As the owner and operator of Australia’s most essential electricity network, we are on the frontline of delivering sustainable infrastructure and services that are leading the nation’s transition to a clean energy future. In doing so, we are cognisant of our role in continually improving our performance across all aspects of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals and our broader role supporting the communities in which we work.
Accordingly, this year, we enhanced our ESG Program to include key performance indicators, targets and improvement initiatives to uplift performance in our sustainability priority areas.
As we build new infrastructure in the community, we also continue our focus on sharing employment and economic opportunities and benefits with First Nations peoples. This year saw the launch of a new partnership with Charles Sturt University to develop training, education and employment pathways for students and First Nations people to support our EnergyConnect and HumeLink projects.
We also respect and encourage meaningful engagement with our First Nations people, residents, businesses and community members affected by our projects and recognise the important role they play in enabling the Nation’s superhighway and transition to a clean energy future.
In 2021, we established the Office of the Landowner and Community Advocate, led by former NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe, to ensure the needs and expectations of landowners and communities are adequately represented in the planning and delivery of transmission projects. In addition, we have implemented all 20 of Mr Stowe’s recommendations including the establishment of independent Community Consultative Groups.
Looking out for our people
The safety and welfare of our people and the broader community are our highest priorities. This year our safety performance was industry-leading, with the best results since 1998. One of our safety initiatives, was partnering with technology provider Infravision, to develop a safer methodology for stringing transmission lines using drones rather than helicopters.
During the year, we also took important steps to increase female representation at Transgrid, including launching a female pre-apprenticeship program in electrical trades.
We also raised primary parental leave from 14 to 20 weeks providing access to this leave at any stage within 12 months of their child’s birth, providing increased flexibility for families to juggle primary care in the first important year. The new policy levels the playing field, enabling parenting responsibilities to be shared and giving women the ability to return to the workforce.
Finally, I would like to thank the Transgrid team, including our delivery partners, who have worked hard to provide our customers with safe, reliable and secure energy. Our professional, talented and dedicated people are also the backbone of our efforts to rapidly upgrade and expand the grid and accelerate Australia’s transition to a clean energy future.