Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Dederang battery project

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:31): (920) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Planning, and it concerns a proposed battery energy storage system to be installed near the Dederang terminal station. The action that I seek is that the minister agrees to meet with the community members in Dederang to hear their concerns about the battery energy storage systems proposed to be built in the area.

On 7 May 2024 the member for Murray Valley tabled petition 202418, which requested the Legislative Assembly to call on the Minister for Planning to reject this proposal due to the widespread community opposition, the risks to community health and wellbeing, concerns about environmental impacts on this sensitive environment, the loss of prime agricultural land, the increase in bushfire risk in a high bushfire risk area and the impacts on landscape and tourism in an area covered by significant landscape overlay. The Minister for Planning must start listening to the concerns of the Kiewa Valley community regarding the battery systems that are proposed to be built near Dederang terminal station. It is shameful that this government has shut down the community voices by preventing third-party VCAT appeals. This Labor government does not want to consult, and it does not want to listen to what locals have to say.

I am certainly not against renewable energy projects. Renewables will have an important role to play in Victoria’s future energy mix, along with gas and other energy sources. Batteries will also have a role to play in storing excess renewable energy when supply peaks and allowing that energy to be used later in the day when renewables supply drops, but we must have an honest appreciation of the risks that come with the new lithium battery technology. These batteries are prone to catching fire when they overheat, and if a large battery starts burning, the fire can last for days. We saw this in 2021 when the Victorian Big Battery near Geelong caught fire on a Friday morning and burnt into Sunday. The risk of battery fires becomes deadly serious when the battery system is proposed to be located in an extreme bushfire area and backs onto bushland, and that is exactly what is proposed in Dederang. Can you imagine what would happen if a battery caught fire on a 40-plus degree day and high winds spread the sparks and flames into nearby bushland? It could start a devastating bushfire. The CFA members who would have to fight that fire are the very ones raising concerns about these proposed battery installations. Hundreds of residents turned out to a community meeting in Dederang to discuss these proposals, but no-one from the government or from the companies who want to build these batteries bothered to turn up. So the community started a petition to get the government to listen, and I urge the minister to pay attention.