Winds of change await as offshore industrial banks on government declaration
The burgeoning offshore wind industry is awaiting a declaration from the federal government to start major work on the water.
Key points:
- The renewable energy industry is waiting for the federal government to designate Gippsland as an offshore wind development zone
- There are five wind farm projects planning to build turbines off the coast of Gippsland
- CSIRO says the price for building an offshore wind farm has dropped significantly, making it a viable option
There are five offshore wind farms planned off the coast of Gippsland, with the hope of leveraging the existing transmission infrastructure of the Latrobe Valley.
Under a new law governing offshore wind farms passed by Parliament last year, operators are only allowed to carry out certain activities in zones designated for offshore wind development.
The most developed project, Star of the South, plans to erect up to 200 turbines in the windswept waters of Gippsland.
Acting chief executive Erin Coldham said making the declaration would end the uncertainty facing the industry.
“We are waiting for the declaration process. The final result will provide certainty for offshore wind power projects in areas like ours, which are ready and want to move forward,” he said.
“In the meantime, we are continuing our environmental assessments, ground studies and ongoing community consultations to keep things going.”
Country manager for BlueFloat Energy firm Nick Sankey echoed the sentiment.
“We are moving forward with the development of our project as much as we can, but until we have a feasibility license, we cannot use certain monitoring equipment and do as many studies in areas of our site as we would like to do,” he said. said.
Wellington Shire general manager of development Brent McAlister previously told the ABC there was a significant push to make a declaration quickly.
“This is important because there is competition in the world for dollar investment and offshore wind capital,” he said.
“But the money will go to countries that have regulatory and licensing regimes so it’s very important to attract investment.”
Meanwhile, the Victorian government has set a generation target of 4 gigawatts (GW) by 2035 and 9GW by 2040.
To that end, the state government has funded four companies for scoping work: $19.5 million for Star of the South, $16.1 million for Corio and $2.3 million for Flotation Energy.
ABC Gippsland has made five requests to discuss offshore winds with Federal Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen since his re-election.
Renewable energy remains the cheapest option
A recent report by Australia’s main scientific research body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), has reaffirmed that renewables remain the least expensive renewable energy option.
CSIRO chief energy economist Paul Graham said that costs for offshore energy had fallen.
“We’re seeing some significant cost reductions in offshore wind, mainly driven by developments overseas, where there’s more offshore wind being developed – so offshore wind can play a role in Australia,” he said.
He said Gippsland’s transmission infrastructure would need updating and expansion.
“The existing transmission system is really designed to connect our fossil resources,” he said.
“We need to build about 10,000 kilometers of new transmission lines over the next decade.”
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