Australia, Policy, Projects, Renewables, Wind, Wind Projects

Australian offshore wind farms get green light in landmark announcement

Just a day after the Federal Government’s historic climate bill passed in the House of Representatives, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen announced proposals for six offshore wind projects to cash in on Australia’s “world-class offshore wind energy potential”, writes Charlotte Wentz.

On Friday, 5 August, Bowen made the announcement, which includes a proposed 200-turbine project off the coast of southeast Victoria’s Gippsland region, as well as offshore wind zones off the coasts of the NSW Hunter and Illawarra regions; near Portland in Western Victoria; in Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania; and in the Indian Ocean off Perth and Bunbury, in Western Australia.

“We have some of the best wind resources in the world,” said Bowen at the announcement.

“Just one rotation of one offshore wind turbine provides as much energy as an average rooftop solar installation generates in one day.”

The wind farms are expected to create around 8000 jobs, and the Gippsland project – with sites slated off Inverloch and Woodside Beach – is currently in a 60-day public consultation period, which ends in early October and is facilitated by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Consultation periods for the other five projects are yet to be announced.

“We’re way behind the game – way behind the rest of the world – in producing wind off our coastline,” said Bowen.

“There will be questions, there will be valid concerns, and there will be issues that need to be worked through with communities, whether they are recreational fishers, commercial fishers, environmental issues that need to be factored in.

The Federal Government has approved offshore wind farms for six Australian sites.

“This is exactly what will be happening during the next 60 days in Gippsland and it’s what we’ll be doing across these zones during the next 18 months.

“Around the world people have found a way for recreational and commercial fishing to work together with offshore wind.”

Australia currently has no offshore wind generation industry, making this announcement a significant milestone in the nation’s adoption of multifaceted renewable energy sources, and a crucial step towards the new Labor government’s goal of generating 82 per cent of Australia’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.

The choice of Victoria’s Gippsland is also of great importance given the scheduled closure of the region’s Yallourn Power Station by 2028, Loy Yang A power station by 2045, and Loy Yang B in 2046.

The offshore wind farms will help the region transition from coal-fired power plants to renewable energy, utilising much of the existing transmission infrastructure to link it to the grid to supply Victoria with up to 20 per cent of its energy needs.

The first wind project 7km off the Gippsland coast will be the Danish-owned 2.2GW Star of the South, comprising 200 wind turbines. It is expected to be operational before the closure of Yallourn in 2028.

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