Massive new overhead power cables are to be constructed in New South Wales’s Kosciuszko National Park.
The ABC reports that eight kilometres of overhead power transmission lines will be built west of Talbingo Reservoir to connect the Snowy 2.0 project to the National Electricity Market at Nurenmerenmong, east of Tumbarumba.
The 330-kilovolt overhead double-circuit transmission lines are set to be suspended on steel lattice towers, up to 75 metres high, within a 200-metre-wide easement.
The project has reportedly already been approved at state and Federal level, but has just been discussed before the Senate Estimates where clarification was sought on why cabling could not be installed underground instead.
Should pylons be allowed in national parks? PIC: Pixabay
“This issue has been worked through very rigorously in terms of the environmental impact statement,” Snowy Hydro’s acting chief executive Roger Whitby said. “The alternatives simply do not stack up in terms of both the environmental impact, ironically, and also the financial impact … approximately 81 hectares will be required for the new easement … within the national park.”
The ABC reports that Mr Whitby said it would be an ‘extremely challenging’ task to install lines underground in ‘extreme terrain’ that would require massive earthworks and ongoing maintenance.
However, the National Parks Association (NPA) of NSW, which has long advocated for underground powerlines, said the decision was a deep blow for environmental protection to the high country.
“They’re saving money to allow them the cheapest way of slashing through a national park at the same time as their overall budget is skyrocketing,” NPA chief executive, Gary Dunnett, told the ABC.
And Senator Janet Rice, who formed part of the committee presenting questions to Snowy Hydro at the Senate Estimates hearing, told the ABC she was ‘saddened’ by the decision to approve which she feels was made to save on costs.
“They really need to have considered all those alternatives and pay that extra cost because all the other powerlines in the park have been underground for the last 50 years,” she said.
Grey nomads have, of course, have become used to seeing the landscape through which they travel change.
Giant mining operations have had a huge impact in some areas, wind farms have popped up in the Outback, and bitumen roads have changed the character of many areas forever.
On a smaller scale, travellers have seen the emergence of thong trees, dressed termite mounds, and all sorts of strange rusty metal sculptures.
All of these ‘additions’ have divided opinion.
One person’s masterpiece is another person’s eyesore.
To some, the land should remain as unchanged as possible.
Others though are more pragmatic.
They say the wind turbines, hotels we build today may one day be viewed in the same revered way as we currently look at the inscriptions carved into the Dig Tree by Burke and Wills.
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If we want renewable power connected to the grid we will have to put up with the ugliness because running the lines underground would be ridiculous & cause even more disturbance to the natural environment.
Do some real and indepth research please before making these kinds of statements.
The ONLY benefit of putting lines overhead is cost and if the terrain is generally flat and not overly dense ignious rock and stable geologically, it works out cheaper in the long run.
However, mountainous or challenging geological landscapes are problematic and need to be accessed on a case by case basis, as underground cables are heavy and the machinery used to lay them currently is limited to large trucks.
Look at the Murraylink Project for example as to what can be achieved in reasonable terrain. It covers 176km and consists of a 2m wide and deep trench and only one tree was felled across the entire route during the project. Another is Basslink; 23 years later, you can’t even tell where the underground lines are and no outages or faults.
Almost all of the information you are being fed by government is political spin to justify not spending extra upfront capital cost, at the expense of communities, increased fire risk etc. Over the term of the contract, undergrounding is safer, less impactful and more reliable. The government will tell you that there’s never been a major fire attributed to transmission lines. If you believe that, then research the Camp Fire in the U.S. in 2018.
Research makes you part of the solution, not the problem.
I dont know where Senator Janet Rice gets her information from, but since the very inception of the Snowy Scheme, power transmission lines have criss- crossed the mountains.
There may be a few underground power lines there but nothing of any scale or consequence. Simple practicalities and the very challenging terrain was always going to favour overhead lines.
The only underground connectors would be those leading from the turbine house to the external switchyard. Oh for an honest politician by way of change.
Were the power conductors to be of say 500,000 Volts A.C. the minimum distance for any other conducting material has to be more than 8 meters.
Tearing up 80 hectares of national park and today they are inhumanely aerial culling brumbies for small hoof prints!!!!! Greed, with those in office holding interest conflicting roles making the decisions . How much money is going under the table?