The entire world is making serious efforts to shift to alternative sources of energy, and offshore wind farms are popping up all over the world. Australia is finally joining the global trend, announcing its first three offshore wind projects.
We’ve seen a lot of advancements in recent years when it comes to harnessing offshore energy, with Europe taking the lead so far. The largest wind farm in the world is located in the U.K. and just managed to generate its first power. It will become fully operational next year, and when that happens, it will be able to provide enough energy to power over 2.3 million homes. Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark are other examples worthy of mentioning. The United States also kicked off recently the construction of its first commercial-scale wind farm, 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. A second one, located 9 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island, and 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York, also received approval for construction. It is now Australia’s turn to announce its first three projects and they will be developed by offshore wind energy project developer BlueFloat Energy and renewable energy company Energy Estate. The two have teamed up to build two floating wind farms and a fixed-bottom one, totaling a capacity of 4.3 GW. As stated by BlueFloat Energy, the first floating wind farm will be the Hunter Coast Offshore Wind Project, with a capacity of 1.4 GW, and will be located off the coast south of Newcastle, in the Hunter Coast region of NSW (New South Wales). It will be meant to support the revitalization of the region as it transitions from coal-fired power. The second project will also use floating wind technology and will be the Wollongong Offshore Wind Project, with a capacity of 1.6 GW. It will be located across two sites off the coast of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of NSW. This project is meant to support the existing ecosystem in the region and facilitate the growth of new industries, such as green hydrogen for export and domestic markets such as mobility. The third one will be the Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Project and will use bottom-fixed technology. It will have a capacity of 1.3 GW and will be located off the coast of the Gippsland region of Victoria. With this wind farm, BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate hope to put an end to brown coal projects in the La Trobe Valley.
While we have no timeline for the three wind farms so far, further projects will also be announced by the two partners next year.
Keyword: Australia Joins the Offshore Wind Energy Trend, Announces Its First Three Projects