Australia has declared another offshore wind zone off its east coast in the Pacific Ocean, allowing project developers to apply for feasibility licences.
Chris Bowen, Australia’s climate change and energy minister, confirmed that the country had officially declared a 1,022km2 zone around 20km off the coast of Illawarra in New South Wales.
The zone was previously identified as one of five potential locations for future offshore wind projects in 2022.
Bowen said the finalised area had been reduced by a third in size after consultations with First Nations peoples, community groups, industry and unions.
“The amended zone will now be 20km from the coast and excludes significant environmental areas including the biologically important area for the little penguin, the shelf rocky reef key ecological feature and the southern right whale migration and reproduction area,” Bowen said.
Developers are now able to apply for feasibility licences — available between 17 June and 15 August 2024 — to have a chance of building offshore wind projects in the area.
Additional consultations, environmental assessments and approvals will also need to take place before any construction can start, the government added.
A range of companies and consortiums previously expressed interest in developing offshore wind in New South Wales, including BlueFloat Energy which plans to develop a 1.6GW floating wind project in the Illawarra region.
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