DP Energy, an international renewable energy company that helped develop Australia’s biggest wind and solar hybrid project, has unveiled plans for five separate offshore wind projects in Australia, joining the growing rush for ocean real estate in the nascent sector.
DP Energy is working with Spanish renewable giant Iberdrola, its partner in the Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park in South Australia, on a number of offshore wind projects in the northern hemisphere, but is going alone on five potential areas off the coast of NSW and Victoria where it hopes to obtain commercial licences.
Australia has become the latest hot spot for aspiring offshore wind developers. Legislation permitting it is yet to be finalised, although the first of six offshore wind zones – in Gippsland, Victoria – is expected to be designated in a few months.
Already, a huge number of major international players have entered the market, and many have already staked out their preferred wind areas, some of them overlapping.
The most advanced project is considered to be the 2.2GW Star of the South project in the Gippsland region that is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, but Macquarie’s Corio, OceanEx, Flotation Energy, BlueFloat, Energy Estate and a host of others have already defined more than 30GW of potential projects.
Others, including Iberdrola, Shell, Vena Energy and possibly Orsted, the biggest offshore wind company in the world, are looking at their options.
See RenewEconomy’s Offshore Wind Farm Map of Australia
The Victoria government says it wants to see the first offshore wind production by 2028, coinciding with the expected closure of the Yallourn coal fired generator, and wants 4GW by 2035 and 9GW of capacity by 2040.
“Australian Federal and State governments have embraced offshore wind potential as a mechanism to increase the contribution of renewable energy and meet emissions reduction targets,” DP Energy director and country manager Catherine Way said.
Way told RenewEconomy each of the five regions identified by DP Energy would likely host a wind farm of between 1GW and 2GW capacity, although the first of the projects is probably eight to ten years away from being developed.
“That all depends on how quickly governments move,” Way said. “There is a lot to do in developing an offshore wind farm.”
The areas identified are off the coast of Warrnambool in Western Victoria, Wonthaggi and Port Albert in the Gippsland Region, and Wollongong and Newcastle areas in NSW. (See map above).
DP Energy is pursuing offshore wind projects across Europe and Canada, including partnering with Iberdrola to deliver 3GW of offshore wind in Ireland and EDF Renewables for 1GW of offshore wind in the UK Celtic Sea. Australia will be its first venture into offshore wind in the southern hemisphere.
Way says DP Energy is not working with Iberdrola on its Australian offshore wind project, although it will be seeking an investment partner at some stage.
“We’re developing these projects with the view of actually getting there,” she told RenewEconomy. “We are not working with anyone at the moment, but we will be working with an investment partner because these projects are very big.”
Way says the zones were identified after studying the grid, wind speed, ports, and potential environmental constraints.
DP Energy has developed more than 1GW of renewable energy projects across Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK, and says it has an immediate pipeline of a further 750MW due to enter construction in 2023 and an extended pipeline of some 6GW beyond that.
These projects include the 320MW Port August Renewable Energy Park in South Australia and the newly unveiled 430MW Callide wind project near Biloela, and the Callide coal fired power station, in Queensland.
“The increased focus from Federal and State governments on offshore wind energy is encouraging and the potential for a large island country such as Australia is significant,” Way said in an earlier statement.
“However, Australia is playing catch up with the rest of the world, particularly Europe, where this technology is more progressed and already a considerable contributor to the region’s renewable energy mix.
“As we bridge this gap with the rest of the world there is going to be significant investment in offshore wind energy in Australia, which will deliver jobs, growth and reduce the reliance on fossil fuels for the country’s energy security.
“At DP Energy, we are currently exploring opportunities, either as our own stand-alone projects or in partnership with other operators, as we have done successfully in Australia and overseas for many years.”
These areas are off the coast of Warrnambool in Western Victoria, Wonthaggi and Port Albert in the Gippsland Region, and Wollongong and Newcastle areas in NSW.
