Energy Minister Chris Bowen has unveiled proposals for six offshore wind projects across the country, including a 200-turbine wind farm off the coast of Gippsland, saying the industry could support up to 8,000 jobs and help strengthen the country’s energy security.
“We have some of the best wind resources in the world – just one rotation of an offshore wind turbine provides as much energy as an average rooftop solar installation generates in a day,” Bowen said.
A day after the government’s 43% emissions reduction bill passed the House of Representatives, Bowen unveiled plans to tap into what he called “world-class offshore wind energy potential.”
It included a project on the Gippsland coast in Victoria, with possible locations at Inverloch and Woodside Beach. A 60-day public consultation period opened on Friday.
Five other proposals include developments on the Hunter and Illawarra coasts in New South Wales, near Portland in western Victoria, in Bass Strait in northern Tasmania and in the Indian Ocean off Perth and Bunbury . Consultation periods for these proposals have not yet been announced.
Bowen said the sites were chosen because of “good to excellent” wind resources, existing power generation facilities, connections to transmission networks and locations near ports or industrial centers.
The wind farms would be built in Commonwealth waters, starting 5.5 km from the coast, and would have up to 200 turbines.
Australia currently has no offshore wind generation, which was previously considered too expensive and difficult to build compared to onshore or solar wind. In September, the Morrison government introduced legislation to establish a framework for the construction and operation of offshore power generation, including wind.
Ai Group’s director of climate change and energy Tennant Reid said offshore wind had “huge” energy potential, using the strongest offshore winds.
The Labor government plans to generate 82% of Australia’s energy from renewable sources by 2030. Bowen said Australia was “way behind the rest of the world” in wind power generation.
Gippsland National MP Darren Chester said his electorate had “abundant” wind resources and he hoped the proposal to build a 200-turbine wind farm off the Gippsland coast would be well received by most voters.
The turbines would be located between 7 and 25 km offshore and could cover up to 20% of Victoria’s electricity needs.
“Respectful community consultation and engagement is now critical to ensure the region understands the potential impacts and benefits of offshore wind projects,” Chester said.
“It is important that the issues surrounding transmission lines across private property to link large-scale renewable projects to the national grid are dealt with sensitively and transparently.”
Mr Bowen said he hoped there would be “very genuine concerns” raised by some locals and the fishing industry about the Gippsland project, dubbed the Southern Star, and that his department would listen.
“All over the world people have found a way to make recreational and commercial fishing work together with offshore wind,” he said.
Liberal MP for the northern Tasmanian seat of Braddon, Gavin Pearce, said he welcomed a proposal to develop offshore wind power in waters north of his electorate, but wanted to see power generation ” affordable, reliable and practical”.
“All I hear from the government is about investing in intermittent renewable energy resources,” he said.
Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said offshore wind was “a huge opportunity for Australia”.
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Reed said questions remained about the distribution capacity of offshore wind and the periods when it would be available, but it had the potential to add “tens of gigawatts” to Australia’s grid.
“Offshore wind is increasingly looking like it’s going to play a pretty big role in the whole system,” he said.
“The challenge is to match what has happened in Europe. It is not just a question of higher ambition but [also depends] if we have the skills, supply chains, regulatory approvals and policies to support demand.”