Winds of change: New era for offshore energy industry set to blow in
By Mike Foley and Nick Toscano
Australia’s first fleet of aspiring offshore wind farm developers has been selected as the federal government issues six exclusive permits to companies vying to build giant turbines in the waters off the Victorian coast.
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen will say offshore wind is crucial to replace Australia’s ageing coal plants when he announces on Wednesday that the Albanese government has identified projects to kick-start development in Commonwealth waters offshore from Gippsland.
The federal government has selected sites for the first wind farms off the Gippsland coast. The projects could one day resemble this Danish wind farm.
If all the proponents demonstrate the viability of their projects and gain development approval, the Gippsland wind fleet could generate up to 25 gigawatts of electricity – 40 per cent of the grid’s current capacity – and create a combined 15,000 construction jobs and 7500 ongoing roles.
Offshore wind generates what is known as baseload-like power, which means the wind turbines can provide electricity more consistently and reliably than land-based wind and solar farms.
The electricity market operator has forecast that 80 per cent of Australia’s coal plants will be shut by 2032, with the last plant to close by 2038.
Bowen will on Wednesday say offshore wind projects take years to build and development must start now.
“The coal-fired power stations on which we’ve built our energy system and our industrial base are ageing and exiting,” Bowen will say in a speech to the Energy Users Association of Australia, which represents manufacturers.
“The average age of the coal fleet in the national electricity market is 34 years. Even Australia’s newest coal power plant is now 15 years old.
“That’s why we’ve spent the last two years implementing our plan for reliable renewables.”
The government announced the six companies to be granted preferability licences. They are: High Sea Wind, Gippsland Skies, Blue Mackerel North, Kut-Wut Brataualung, Ørsted Offshore and Star of the South.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen will announce the wind farm projects on Wednesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
State and federal governments have set themselves ambitious targets to cut emissions and their plans hinge on cutting pollution from coal plants and using wind and solar farms to fill the gap in generating energy.
Victorian waters are considered world-class for offshore wind farms, with strong and consistent wind speeds and relatively shallow ocean areas less than 60 metres deep, which are suitable for fixed-platform wind turbines.
The Victorian government is aiming to source about 2 gigawatts – or 20 per cent of the state’s total power needs – from offshore wind by 2032 and doubling that target to 4 gigawatts by 2035 and 9 gigawatts by 2040.
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said Gippsland projects were crucial to reaching those goals.
“We’re proud to be paving the way for the country’s first offshore wind farms, which will harness our world-class offshore wind resources and power homes and businesses across Australia with renewable energy,” D’Ambrosio said.
Bowen said the federal government also intended to grant another six pre-feasibility licences, subject to First Nations consultation. These companies are: Aurora Green, Gippsland Dawn, Navigator North, Ørsted Offshore Australia, Kent Offshore Wind and Great Eastern Offshore Wind Farm.
While Gippsland is the most advanced wind farm, the Albanese government is seeking applications for wind farm development in five other offshore zones around the country: the Southern Ocean between south-west Victoria and Port MacDonnell in South Australia, the Illawarra and Hunter regions in NSW, the Indian Ocean off Bunbury in Western Australia, and Bass Strait in Tasmania.
The Albanese government will also announce on Wednesday progress on the first round of tenders in Victoria and South Australia under its “capacity investment scheme”, which is designed to underwrite private development in clean energy to spur enough new large-scale renewable and storage to help double the share of green power in the grid by 2030.
The government sought development of 600 megawatts of battery storage but received bids totalling 32 times the capacity it was seeking: a total of 19,000 megawatts.
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