Western Renewables Link passes planning hurdle as cost review ordered - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Western Renewables Link, a high-voltage transmission corridor linking renewable generation in Western Australia to population centres, has passed a planning stage. A cost review has been ordered, signalling concern over the project's price tag.

Where this fits

This is the transmission overbuild problem in real time. A renewables-dominated grid needs far more transmission infrastructure than a firm-power system because wind and solar output is spread across large geographic areas and varies by weather. The Western Renewables Link exemplifies the hidden cost of a weather-dependent grid: you must build the wires to carry peak output from distant generators, then pay to run them half-empty on calm or cloudy days. A cost review mid-project is a warning sign that the full system expense, generation plus firming plus transmission plus storage, was underestimated at the outset.

What it means

Transmission becomes a runaway line item in a renewables transition. Every megawatt of wind or solar capacity requires corresponding wire infrastructure, often crossing hundreds of kilometres of difficult terrain, and that cost is borne by ratepayers and taxpayers regardless of whether the grid is running efficiently on any given day. The delay and cost blowout here illustrate why the headline "cheap renewable energy" masks an expensive whole-system bill. A firm alternative, nuclear or gas, would require less transmission overbuild, lower peak-capacity wire sizing, and more predictable utilisation of the network assets already paid for.