New offshore wind zone cut in half and pushed further off coast

A new offshore wind zone in Western Australia has been declared, but the area has been cut in half, pushed further off the coast and will avoid most of the recreational fishing areas after feedback from the local community.

The area off the coast of Bunbury is the sixth offshore wind zone to be declared in Australia, and like other areas has had its proposed boundaries changes after consultations.

The other offshore wind zones are in Gippsland, Victoria, where the first offshore wind turbines in Australia will be erected and brought into construction by the end of the decade. Other areas are the Bass Strait, the Southern Ocean zone near Portland, Victoria, and the Hunter and Illawarra zones in NSW.

Federal energy and climate minister Chris Bowen announced the new zone before media in Bunbury, along with the newly-appointed assistant energy minister Josh Wilson, who is a WA MP.

Bowen says the zone will now be at least 30 kms from shore at its closes point, Cape Naturaliste, and 40-50 kms from most coastal towns, and the final area will cover 4,000 square kilometres, around half the original size. It will be split in half by a shipping zone.

“Even on a good day, you won’t be able to see the wind turbines,” Bowen told journalists in Bunbury.

More than 60% of the overlapping recreational fishing areas, including Naturaliste Reef, have been excluded, at the request of fishers, and the new outline provides further separation from breeding areas and migratory paths for Southern Right Whales.

“Today marks a crucial step towards creating thousands of regional jobs and securing WA’s energy needs well into the future,” Bowen said in an earlier statement.

“With an estimated 50 GW of new generation required by 2042, Western Australia needs new sources of electricity to power homes and industry.

“Offshore wind can help meet that demand – harnessing consistent, high-speed winds to provide reliable renewable energy throughout the day and night, with one rotation of an offshore turbine generating as much power as an average rooftop solar installation makes in a day.”

It says the Bunbury offshore wind zone has the potential to support 11.4 GW of offshore wind capacity, enough to power the entire main grid’s current demands, although this demand is expected to grow significantly with electrification of homes and transport and the emergence of green industries.

The Bunbury zone is likely to be mostly fixed offshore technology, but some projects further out from shore could use floating based turbines, most of which are likely to be at least 15 megawatts in size.

The changes to the boundary mean that some projects nearer the coastline could be affected. However, OceanEx, which has a 2 gigawatt project of its own around 33kms off the coastline at its nearest point, welcomed the changes.

“We’re delighted that minister Bowen has declared the offshore wind zone. We think it has huge opportunities and ties in with the upgrade of the SWIS (the local grid), and the announcements of new battery storage,” CEO Andy Evans told Renew Economy.

He noted that the company was attracted to the facilities of the Bunbury port, and said W..A. was one of the most advanced in terms of marine technology.

The proposal was also welcomed by a coalition of unions, environmental groups and industry bodies, including the Smart Energy Council, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, the Electrical Trades Union, Maritime Union Australia (WA Branch), Conservation Council of Western Australia and Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

“Offshore wind can position WA as a globally significant green industrial player if we get the settings right,” they said in a joint statement.

“This economic success can’t come at the cost of fragile ecosystems and vulnerable species. We want to see offshore wind projects proceed where they are developed responsibly, avoiding ecologically sensitive areas and minimising impacts to key habitats and species, and we call for thorough independent environmental assessment and community engagement.

“We all saw the impacts of a record breaking hot and dry summer across the South West, record-breaking winter heat in the north of the state, and know we have to make the move to renewable energy to stop fuelling further climate change.

“Most Western Australians are supportive of a sensible build out of renewable energy and offshore wind can play an important role to power the grid and local industry.”

The AMWU said mandating a local wind supply chain industry, coupled with green metals production in Collie, would ensure that the future economy of the south west region is in “well-paid, secure green manufacturing jobs.”

In a separate statement, Craig Sisson, the convenor of Busselton Dunsborough Environment Centre, said renewable energy needs to be built with minimal environmental impact.

“Geographe Bay is habitat for critically endangered species, and government and industry must work together with independent experts to protect migration zones and ensure that species like sea grass, whales, sea lions, turtles, and seabirds are monitored and protected as a matter of priorit,” he said.

“Proponents must also take responsibility for the full life cycle of their projects, including their safe removal, recycling, and rehabilitation of the area they occupied.”

The federal government estimates that offshore wind will bring around 7,000 jobs during construction and around 3,500 ongoing jobs for engineers, electrical technicians, cable installers, boilermakers, crane operators, riggers, seafarers, dockworkers and administrators. 

One of the strongest objections to the offshore wind zone – as occurred in other regions – came from recreational fishers. But Bowen said fishers will still be able to travel and fish within the offshore wind zone, as occurs in the United Kingdom and Denmark. The exclusion zone in those countries is just 50 metres around turbines.

​Offshore wind project developers will be able to apply for feasibility licences in the declared Bunbury offshore wind zone until November 6.

The government says the licence applications will be judged on those that do most to incorporate Australian materials and manufacturing, consult with local industry, protect the environment, share the marine space and provide benefits to workers, businesses and communities.

Wilson said in a statement that offshore wind is particularly important to WA’s electricity network because it’s a self-contained system, and has no links to other states or grids.

The state has identified potential demand needs from green industries that would require 50 GW of wind and solar capacity over coming decades, although its share of renewables now stands at around 40 per cent. The last of the state’s coal fired generators is due to close by the end of the decade.