Not a “dealbreaker:” Big Victorian wind project doesn’t need VNI West - Renew Economy

A major Victorian wind project has signalled it does not depend on VNI West, the planned transmission line connecting Victoria to New South Wales. The project developer stated the lack of the link is not a "dealbreaker" for proceeding, suggesting the scheme can reach market without waiting for the long-delayed interconnector.

Where this fits

This is a reliability and cost pressure point. VNI West has been repeatedly delayed and its cost blown out. If large renewable projects can proceed without it, the incentive to finish the line weakens, yet the grid still needs firming capacity and transmission redundancy to handle weather-dependent supply. The story illustrates how a renewables-only build-out proceeds project by project, each one rational on its own, without a coordinated plan for whole-system resilience. It also shows how transmission, the unglamorous, capital-intensive backbone of any electricity system, gets deprioritised when it does not directly enable another subsidy-driven wind farm.

What it means

Australia is building a grid where individual renewable plants can operate independently of major transmission, yet the system as a whole remains dependent on gas peaking plants and rising import exposure. Deferring VNI West saves money in the short term but leaves the eastern grid more fragmented, harder to reinforce, and more reliant on interstate gas supply for firming. A firm, domestic, low-material generation source, nuclear, would reduce that fragmentation and firming burden, yet remains prohibited by law. Instead, Australia is locking in a model where weather-dependent output, long-duration battery storage, and gas remain the only available tools for grid stability.