Critical infrastructure is the link that binds us together. It is our infrastructure that protects communities from hazards, provides essential services such as energy and water, and it connects us to each other through transport and communication assets1.
Critical infrastructure projects, therefore, are increasingly important on both a local and global scale. The complexity and interdependence of any infrastructure asset places them under pressure from threats such as climate change, pandemics and cyber-attacks. The failure of all, or any, of these assets would result in a negative impact to the social and economic wellbeing of the community. Building resilience in our infrastructure assets is a high priority.
In September, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the fast-tracking of critical infrastructure assets in the energy sector: the Marinus Link, Project Energy Connect Interconnector, and Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI). These projects will create more than 5000 jobs, keep the electricity grid reliable and resilient, and reduce prices for consumers2. Security and better integration techniques for the varied energy generation sources remain a priority given the need to increase resilience.
Society has never been better placed for energy generation options. From solar to wind, hydro to gas, the last of brown coal and a potential future option of nuclear, make reliability and resilience a key focus. The interconnectors therefore have the capacity to build resilience in the energy sector from generation to end-user.
1 Sourced: https://www.resilienceshift.org/work-with-us/faqs/
2 Info in this para sourced: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-energy-address-tomago-nsw