Australia announces second offshore wind zone

The area is in the Pacific Ocean off the Hunter region in NSW and has the potential to generate up to 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable wind energy and to power round 4.2 million homes.

Renewables expert George Varma at Pinsent Masons said: “It is great to see the Australian government officially announce its second offshore wind zone and we expect to see more such announcements around Australia in the very near future. We have already seen an announcement for the development of a 2GW floating wind farm in the Hunter zone already, which demonstrates the strong interest and investment the Australian offshore wind market is attracting.”

“It is clear that the offshore wind market is a strategic growth area that the Australian government is committed to support. The vast opportunities that the Australian landscape has to offer in this space will no doubt continue to attract international investment and we expect to see expedited growth in this part of the Australian energy market,” he said.

Developers will be able to submit feasibility licence applications for planned offshore wind projects in the area from 8 August till 14 November. At the feasibility stage, licence holders must conduct a detailed environmental assessment and further stakeholder consultation to progress their specific project proposal. Developers could start construction when they complete the feasibility stage and have environmental approval and other approvals in place.

The Hunter area also has the potential to create up to 3120 construction jobs for offshore wind projects and another 1560 ongoing operational jobs, according to a statement by the Australian government,

The country’s government made the announcement when it finished a public consultation in February.

Australia declared its first offshore wind zone, Gippsland, in December 2022. At the time, energy minister Chris Bowen said that the site has the potential to support over 10GW of year-round wind energy generation.