The Murray River Group of Councils welcomes the joint announcement yesterday by Federal Energy Minister the Hon. Angus Taylor and his Victorian counterpart the Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio to back the Kerang Link transmission upgrade project.
“I would like to thank both Ministers for this exciting announcement,” said Cr Bill Moar, Chair of the Murray River Group.
“This project will help to unlock the enormous potential of northern Victoria to generate renewable energy and to deliver it across South Eastern Australia.”
Currently there are large scale solar projects that will generate some 4000mw of renewable energy either complete, under construction or with planning approval across the Murray River Group region in northern Victoria. The Kerang Link project is a vital piece of the infrastructure needed to bring this power to customers.
The project itself will generate 2000 construction jobs and will deliver the certainty that investors are seeking get the billions of dollars of committed investment flowing to the region.
Cr Moar was quick to thank Federal Mallee MP Dr Anne Webster for her support in raising the need for this in Parliament and for bringing it to the attention of Minister Taylor.
“We have had the whole region backing this,” said Cr Moar.
“The support from Dr Webster and also from (Mildura MP) Ali Cupper has been excellent and I thank them for that.
“I also want to acknowledge support and advocacy for Kerang Link from across the region and thank the Regional Partnerships, Loddon Mallee RDA Committee, the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre, Loddon Mallee New Energy Taskforce, the Loddon Campaspe Group of Councils, and the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance.
“Getting Kerang Link locked in as the route and getting the early works done so that it is constructed by 2027, will deliver such a boost for our region, but it is truly a nationally significant project. It will bring it will improve network resilience and reliability for customers across South East Australia,” said Cr Moar.
