MELBOURNE With a new government, Australia looks like it will be the next big market for offshore wind developers. Companies like Shell (LON:RDSa), Orsted (OTC:DOGEF), and Equinor (Norway) are already showing interest. But because the industry is just starting out in Australia, it faces a lot of problems.
After more than a decade of weak climate action by conservative leaders, Anthony Albanese’s new Labor government has promised to have net zero emissions by 2050. This goal is in line with the renewable energy goals of the States.
To meet this goal, the country will need 96 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2035 to replace coal-fired plants that are set to close. Offshore wind will have to be part of this mix, Shell’s Australia chair Tony Nunan told Reuters in an interview.
Australia gets 10% of its electricity from onshore wind farms, but the groundwork for offshore farms, which are much bigger and much more productive, is just starting to come together after a law was passed late last year that set up a framework for their development.
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The government, on the other hand, has moved quickly to start a process to find offshore zones that will be open to licences. The first area that has been suggested is off the coast of Gippsland in Victoria State. A final decision should be made before the end of the year.
Tim Sawyer, chief international officer at Flotation Energy, which wants to build a project off the coast of Gippsland, said, “We’re in the early stages, but a lot has happened in the last few weeks much faster than people expected, and that’s gotten a lot of attention around the world.”
Many people in the business world think that Australia could be the next big market for offshore wind.
Equinor, for example, sees Australia as one of its top three Asia-Pacific markets for offshore wind, along with Japan and South Korea. Lars Nordli, Equinor’s vice president for business development inrenewables in renewables in Asia & Pacific, said that the company plans to use its South Korean projects as a model for Australia.
THE HURDLES
But the industry will need new rules and government departments with more staff to handle licencing and approvals. Industry leaders say it will also need to build a supply chain and train workers for thousands of jobs in construction, operation, and maintenance.
Projects usually take between eight and ten years to finish, and landowners who are worried about the transmission lines needed to connect to the grid on land may also try to stop them.
People in the area are also likely to worry about how wind turbines will affect birds, like orange-bellied parrots, and animals in the sea, like fish and whales.
In an email to Reuters, Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, said, “Each project will be looked at on its own to make sure we protect our valuable biodiversity while we use our world-class offshore wind to make clean energy.”
The industry must also get suppliers of vessels, turbines, and other related technology to leave the fast-growing offshore wind markets in Europe and Asia. These suppliers may only come if there are several projects going on at the same time.
“There are only a few ships in the world that can be used to put up turbines in the ocean. “So you have to get those ships to come to Australian waters “Charles Rattray, CEO of Star of the South, the most advanced offshore wind project plan in the country, said this.
Flotation Energy thinks it can speed up development and save money by using oil and gas assets that are nearing the end of their useful lives in the waters off Victoria. For example, it could use ships that will be used to take oil and gas platforms out of service.
Sawyer said, “The oil industry has been in the area for 50 years, so there are a lot of chances to take some of that and turn it into offshore wind.” “I’d rather not build something that takes 10 years.”
Focus on Victoria State
Shell, Orsted, and ENGIE, which is based in France and works with EDP Renewables on the Ocean Winds Project, have all said that they are keeping a close eye on the process in Victoria.
Australia is thinking about allowing wind power to be used in offshore areas. https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/klvykaygnvg/Gippsland%20offshore%20wind.png
The state, which has led the country’s push for offshore wind, wants to buy 2 gigawatts (GW) of offshore capacity by 2032, which would be enough to power 1.5 million homes. It also wants to reach 4 GW by 2035 and 9 GW by 2040.
The Star of the South, which has a capacity of 2.2 GW and has been in the planning stages for 10 years and is now mostly owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is supposed to be up and running in 2028.
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New South Wales has also asked for bids for renewable energy projects in the Illawarra Region, which is south of Sydney. Eight offshore wind projects with a total capacity of 12.9 GW and a cost of A$35 billion ($23 billion) have been proposed.
“New South Wales has a lot more to choose from. It needs more electricity than that. In the next 10 years, all the coal will be gone, so there will be a lot of room for great grid infrastructure.” Andy Evans, the CEO of Oceanex Energy and a co-founder of Star of the South, said this.
Oceanex, which has found a partner in Equinor, wants to start making electricity off the coast of New South Wales by 2030, he said.
(1 dollar equals 1.5378 Australian dollars)
