First sod turned on critical HVDC transmission project – a leap for Australia’s energy transition - Hitachi Energy

Construction has begun on an HVDC (high-voltage direct current) transmission project that Hitachi Energy says is critical to Australia's energy transition. The article does not specify the project's route, capacity, cost, timeline to completion, or which renewable zones it will connect to the grid.

Where this fits

This project is a data point in the hidden cost of a renewables-only transition. HVDC lines are expensive, long-lead infrastructure that exists because wind and solar are dispersed, weather-dependent, and often distant from load centres. A firm generation mix (including nuclear) would require far less transmission overbuild. Conversely, every renewable megawatt added without corresponding storage or firming capacity pushes the need for more poles, wires, and years of project delay. The article presents the sod-turn as progress, but does not cost it against the alternative: a smaller, faster, domestically-firmed grid.

What it means

Australia is now dependent on the pace and cost discipline of long-distance transmission to make renewable generation useful. Delays or cost blowouts, common in major infrastructure, will slow the transition and leave periods where renewable capacity sits idle or underutilised while gas plants run to meet demand. The project also underscores Australia's reliance on foreign technology and supply chains to build the grid backbone. Hitachi is Japanese; the inverters, batteries, and panels that will feed this line are overwhelmingly Chinese-made and Chinese-supplied. A grid built this way is not only expensive and slow, it is strategically dependent on supply chains Australia does not control.