Progress on Australia’s First Offshore Wind Farm Takes Shape

The planned first offshore wind farm which will be located off the coast of Victoria has taken a big improvement after one of the leading offshore wind developers in the world has brought in on the 2-gigawatts project. Offshore Energy, a renewables outfit based in Melbourne, on Friday, said that the firm had committed to a partnership with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The two companies will work together for the progressive development of the 2,000 megawatts wind farm.
According to a report on RenewEconomy website, the new partnership will commence by venturing further development of the suggested site for the offshore wind farm, situated between 10-25 kilometres off the Victorian coast in the Bass Strait. The CEO of Offshore Energy, Andy Evans, stated on Friday, “Offshore Energy is delighted to partner with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, one of the leading offshore wind developers in the world, to develop Australia’s first offshore wind farm. The partnership brings together local knowledge and proven international experience that we believe will deliver many benefits for Australia, Victoria, and local communities.”
On the other hand, Torsten Lodberg Smed, CIP Senior Partner, said of the project, “We are very satisfied with this partnership, and look forward to contributing our competence and experience in cooperation with Offshore Energy, all levels of Government, and key stakeholders in the development of the first offshore wind project in Australia.”
However, the question on the project’s cost in Australian waters, especially when it comes to the comparison to onshore wind and large-scale solar, still remains. To date, these types of renewables continue to go down the cost curve at an impressive rate.
The report also mentioned that Evans is convinced Offshore Energy can get finance for the Star of the South project. The article adds, “In terms of the resource, preliminary analysis of the proposed site off the coast of Gippsland showed Star of the South could potentially generate around 8,000GWh of electricity per year, or enough to power 1.2 million homes.”
The full report can be viewed here.