Your questions answered
No, WestWind Energy itself generally cannot simply force the sale of land. However, land needed for electricity transmission infrastructure may be subject to compulsory acquisition by a licensed transmission company or acquiring authority under Victorian law in certain circumstances.
WestWind Energy can negotiate land purchase agreements, leases, or easements with landowners voluntarily. We do not ordinarily have a power to compulsorily acquire private land.
Existing transmission lines were constructed to connect traditional energy sources (like coal and gas) to properties and businesses. However, wind farms are often in locations far from traditional energy sources. To unlock the green energy potential in these areas we need to develop new transmission lines in collaboration with local landholders and communities.
Typically, this requires new transmission lines from the wind farm to the nearest suitable point in the electricity network.
In locations where there are a large number of renewable energy projects and/or limited capacity in the nearby grid, new transmission lines may be required over longer distances.
Learn more:
WestWind works closely with landholders, government and industry experts to design transmission routes and infrastructure solutions that balance the technical and environmental requirements of the project with feedback from landholders and local community members. This typically includes commissioning independent route assessment reports by expert consultants and conducting additional studies into the cost and feasibility of various technical solutions such as poles, transmission towers, partial or full undergrounding, alternating or direct current.
We are committed to minimising impacts where possible to agribusiness and communities where we are developing transmission projects. Each transmission route, topographic setting and community are a bit different. That is why we are tailoring solutions for every project with technical experts and in consultation with the community and affected landowners using state of the art Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA).
Learn more:
- WestWind’s Hosting Transmission
In Australia, liability for a fire caused by a transmission line generally depends on who owns and controls the asset and whether legal safety obligations were met.
High voltage transmission lines are owned and operated by transmission network service providers. These operators have a legal responsibility to design, operate, inspect, maintain, and manage vegetation around their infrastructure to minimise bushfire risk. If a transmission asset causes a fire due to equipment failure or inadequate maintenance, the operator may be liable for resulting damage, even if the fire starts on private land.
Landowners are typically responsible only for privately owned electrical assets, such as private poles or lines beyond the network connection point, and for vegetation they control outside the transmission easement.
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Large scale transmission towers are not a common cause of bushfires, but like any electrical infrastructure, they can pose a risk in rare circumstances.
Bushfires linked to transmission lines can occur due to factors such as equipment faults, contact with vegetation, or extreme weather events. To minimise these risks, transmission infrastructure in Australia is subject to strict design, construction and maintenance standards.
These controls include wide vegetation clearance zones, regular inspections, fire resistant materials, and automatic protection systems that can shut down lines if a fault is detected. On high nrisk fire days, additional operating and monitoring measures may also be put in place.
New transmission projects must complete detailed bushfire risk assessments and implement fire prevention and response plans as part of their approvals.
Overall, strong regulations and ongoing management are designed to keep bushfire risks low.
Learn more:
- CFA Fighting Fires Around Transmission Lines
- Energy Networks Australia
- Energy Safe Victoria – Bushfire Management and Community Safety
The base of a 330 KV monopole, as proposed in WestWind’s WiRES project is 1.5 m wide, a much smaller footprint than that of a traditional lattice tower.
The poles are approximately 300-350 m apart, with an easement of 60 m.
Learn more: WIRES-Factsheet_Overhead-lines-Feb-2026.pdf
Farming and transmission has worked in harmony for decades and won’t impact most agricultural operations. For the proposed WiRES project, which plans to use 330 KV monopoles, the design will allow machinery up to 5 metres tall to pass under the lines without any requirement for a permit. This should cater for most common machinery use today.
For vegetation above 3 metres high, a safety assessment is required.
Ground-growing crops are permitted to grow within 5 metres of the poles – subject to obtaining permission, and provided access for maintenance works is maintained.
Livestock are permitted within 330 kV easements and no conditions apply.
Learn more: WIRES-Factsheet_Farming-Feb-26.pdf
The project’s visual impact is assessed throughout the development process, and adjustments are made to the layout as required. During the design phase, structures are positioned on the layout to minimise their visual impact from the road as well as landholder and neighbouring properties.
A key way to minimise the visual impact on the landscape from transmission projects is by adopting a monopole design. Monopoles have a much smaller impact on views – they are less visible from a distance and easier to screen with vegetation.
We also work with host landholders and nearby impacted property owners to plant and maintain trees and vegetation to provide suitable screening of transmission infrastructure.
Learn more: WIRES-Factsheet_Views-Feb-2026.pdf
Electric and magnetic fields (EMF) occur naturally and are all around us, created by things like lightning and the sun’s ultraviolet rays as well as many household items. Residents in metropolitan regions live with high voltage powerlines within proximity of their properties without any health impacts.
Numerous studies have found EMF from transmission lines in Australia present no risk to people, livestock or crops. EMF from power lines in Australia are considered low risk because transmission is low frequency and non-ionising. This means they do not have enough energy to cause chemical or biological changes.
Learn more: WIRES-Factsheet_EMF-Feb-2026.pdf
In general, overhead lines are inspected once a year via air or land. Easements must be kept clear of vegetation that would pose a risk to the transmission lines. This clearing often also acts as a firebreak. Easements are more common than many people realise and are routinely used for a range of essential infrastructure and services, including water pipelines, sewerage, gas pipelines and telecommunications networks.
Transmission line operators may conduct annual pre-summer vegetation maintenance to protect the transmission lines from the risk of bushfires.
Landholders maintain possession and use of the easement, subject to the terms of the easement agreement. Landholders also maintain responsibility for the general maintenance of the land within the easement.
However, the transmission line operator is responsible for the maintenance of any electrical infrastructure, including access roads within the easement.
WestWind has undertaken extensive early engineering studies to understand the facts around underground construction. Our studies have shown that this approach could cost 5-10 times more than overhead transmission (subject to ecological and engineering investigations). Such a large cost would ultimately make this project unfeasible, and the benefits of the project would be lost.
There are many reasons why overhead is chosen, including cost.
Other key reasons include:
- Environmental impact – overhead is able to span sensitive ecological features
- Existing and future land use – overhead better integrates with agricultural land uses
- Ongoing maintenance requirements – finding and addressing faults is simpler when infrastructure is visible
- Time to deliver – underground construction requires specialised labour, as well as specialised cable, which can add several years in procurement and construction.
Learn more: Australian Transmission Factsheets
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