Norway oil giant cleared to collaborate on massive offshore wind farm in Bass Strait

Norwegian oil and offshore wind giant Equinor has been given the all-clear to invest in the plans of Australian renewables outfit Nexsphere and co-develop a 1GW wind farm off the coast of north-east Tasmania.

The companies said on Tuesday that the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has granted initial approval for Equinor to invest in the Bass Offshore Wind Energy (BOWE) project, after a collaboration was proposed late last year.

The project was first proposed roughly a year ago by Nexsphere, formerly Brookvale Energy, for up to 70 wind turbines off the coast of Tasmania, with a link to connect at George Town, close to the proposed Marinus Link undersea cable to the mainland.

The project also has its eyes on the big green hydrogen and green ammonia facilities planned by the likes of Fortescue, Woodside, and Origin for Bell Bay, as well as the potential to export electricity through the Marinus Link to Victoria in the future.

For Equinor, which has significant experience in developing offshore wind, the Bass Strait project gives it more of a foothold in Australia’s nascent market, which is rapidly developing a long list of project proposals backed by enthusiastic state and federal governments.

See RenewEconomy’s Offshore Wind Farm Map of Australia

Already, Equinor has bought into three proposed offshore wind farms in New South Wales – each of up to 2GW off the coast of Newcastle, the Illawarra and Eden – in a deal struck with Australian developer OceanEx in August.

“The fixed-bottom project has the potential scale to materially underpin Tasmania’s ambitions for growing renewable energy generation with multiple offtake routes,” said Equinor’s senior director for offshore wind in Australia, Thomas Hansen.

“Equinor is a global leader in wind energy and with this partnership in place we will be able to further progress our exciting BOWE Project with confidence,” said Nexsphere CEO Glen Kierse.

Kierse says the BOWE project team will continue to engage with Tasmanian communities and businesses, while also working towards a feasibility licence once the relevant Declared Site Zone is opened for submissions.