The Australian government has declared the Bass Strait off the Gippsland coast as Australia’s first offshore wind development zone. The designated area, located in Victora state, covers about 15,000 km2 of offshore surface and has the potential to support more than 10 GW of year-round wind energy generation. The new development zone will allow projects to benefit from regulatory facilitation services to ensure they meet their obligations without unnecessary delays.
Simultaneously to this announcement, the government has awarded Major Project Status to the 2.2 GW Star of the South offshore wind project. the 200-turbine wind park is planning to start construction around 2025 and have its first turbine produce power by 2028.
Other offshore wind projects are planned in the new zone, notably Flotation Energy’s 1.5 GW project called Seadragon, which could be commissioned by 2028 and power up to 1 million homes. In addition, Macquarie Group’s offshore wind subsidiary Corio Generation will apply for a feasibility licence for its proposed 2.5 GW Great Eastern Offshore Wind project in Gippsland.
The state of Victoria is aiming to reach 2 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2032, 4 GW by 2035 and 9 GW by 2040. At the end of 2021, at the national level, wind power accounted for 11% of Australia’s installed capacity with 9 GW and 9% of its power generation with 24.5 TWh. However, the country did not yet possess any offshore wind capacity as of end-2021. Australia currently has more than 3 GW of wind capacity under construction and more than 128 GW under development.