How many jobs does it take to build a transmission line?

Plumbing, traffic management, crane hire, earthmoving, fencing, agronomy, waste disposal, security, electrical trades - the list goes on. These are the sectors needed to build the Western Renewables Link (WRL).

More than 300 people attended sessions across Stawell, Lexton and Creswick last week to find out how their businesses can fill these roles. 

It’s part of a $170 million investment into sourcing materials and local workers. 

Darryn Jenkinson, from Stawell Hydraulics, said he came to see what "opportunities were here for the town”, and to see who is going to benefit. 

The background: Local businesses across Western Victoria can now register for contracts to help construct Western Renewables Link, a new transmission line that needs to be built to reduce congestion on the existing transmission network so that energy from wind and solar farms can get to homes and businesses across the state.

• The project’s builder, AusNet, says it wants to employ locally and create close to 700 jobs by next year. It kicked off the process with the sessions in Stawell, Lexton and Creswick. 

• (WRL) will cover 190km across the Northern Grampians Shire Council, the edge of Ararat Rural City Council, the Pyrenees, the City of Ballarat, Moorabool Shire Council, Hepburn Shire Council and Melton City Council. 

Down to business: Gary West from Grampians Crane Hire said he came along to “get as much information as he could” about the project. 

🗣️: “We’ve worked with them before, and hopefully we can continue on,” West said. 

He is hopeful that “as long as they do what they say”, the project will be good for the local community and economy. 

Spencer Martin, a local farmer, told the Brolga “there’s always good and bad about it, but I think it’s lots of benefits in the long run. The infrastructure is old, things have to get bigger, more population - things have got to change”.

The need for new transmission lines has generated debate across Western Victoria, with concerns over costs, visual amenity, property values and a perceived lack of community engagement. 

Leaders in attendance: Councillor Jenny Greenberger from Northern Grampians Shire attended the meeting in Stawell. She wanted to learn about diversification opportunities for the local economy and to “find out what was on offer for the community”. 

“I like the notion of hyper-local, not just Australia … they’re actually talking about local communities, local businesses,” she told the Brolga. 

“I’m sure that’s why all these businesspeople are here today. They’re very hopeful they’ll be able to take up some of these packages and get a lot of work out of this,” she said. 

What next? The WRL build is due to start next year, pending the result in the November state election.  

• The Victorian Liberal-National Coalition announced in May that it will pause the project and review alternative options. 

• One Nation, which is yet to announce lower house candidates, has stated it will block WRL from being built.