Wind hub environmental impacts to be assessed

The proposed wind turbine hub on Western Port will be required to consider a raft of environmental impacts.

Last week the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) published the final scoping requirements for the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal (VRET) Environment Effects Statement (EES).

The scoping requirements detail the proposed matters to be investigated, which the Port of Hastings Corporation will use to prepare the EES.

The requirements have been updated following two rounds of public comment, in 2024 and 2025.

According to the requirements, the EES must include feasible alternatives, including to avoid or minimise significant environmental effects and full analysis of potential environmental effects.

The Port of Hastings is seeking approvals on behalf of the state government for a revised VRET, after the former Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek last year knocked back the original plan because of national environmental concerns.
If approved, dredging in the bay will take place for about five months 24/7, with dredged material taken to a land reclamation site, with potential for further dredging for the berth pocket and quay wall.

There would be an extra 130 ships per year, with VRET construction starting in 2027, operational by the end of the decade, with a 50-year design life and unlikely to be decommissioned.

Under the proposal, wind turbine components manufactured overseas would be brought to the VRET for assembly, before being shipped out to Bass Strait for construction.

In a separate process, last month the Federal Environment Minister earlier in 2025 declared the VRET a "controlled action" as part of the Commonwealth's EPBC Act referral, indicating nationally significant environmental impacts were considered likely.

Details: https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/environmental-assessments/browse-projects/referrals/victorian-renewable-energy-terminal