NSW Ports prepares to turns Port Kembla into an offshore wind energy hub

Port Kembla is set to be turned into a support base for a future offshore wind industry, with NSW Ports unveiling two concept plans for its outer harbour.

The Wollongong port, which is inside the draft Illawarra Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), is already an import hub for onshore wind farm components and the port operator also wants to add hydrogen to the mix.

The proposed Illawarra offshore wind development zone – which has already attracted multiple gigawatts of project proposals – is just offshore from the port.

The port owner needs to act quickly if it wants to grab the jobs and innovation opportunities that will come with the new industry, said NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas in a statement.

“Delivering such infrastructure in time requires significant collaboration between government, private enterprise, industry and the community over coming years,” she said.

The NSW government was swamped with proposals for the new REZ and of the $43 billion of proposals some $35 billion was predominantly for offshore wind.

Eight offshore wind projects were totalling 12.9 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity.

The Hunter REZ near the Newcastle port is the other NSW offshore wind zone, and was the first NSW REZ to include an offshore component.

Proposals for the Illawarra zone to date include the 2GW, $10 billion Illawarra Offshore Wind project by Equinor and Oceanex, the 1.6 GW South Pacific floating wind farm by BlueFloat and Energy Estate, and the 1.8 GW Ulladulla and 2 GW Eden projects also by Oceanex.

DP Energy is also believed to be looking at two NSW sites for offshore wind, one in each REZ.

All have estimated commissioning dates in the 2030s.

See RenewEconomy’s offshore wind map.

At last count there were 24 offshore wind farms proposed around Australia, with some of the biggest set to land in Western Australia.

Dirt turning on gas import terminal

Plans are still afoot to turn Port Kembla into an LNG import terminal, as well.

Squadron Energy is pressing ahead with its $250 million project despite the federal government cap on gas prices potentially making it uneconomic.

The company is investigating whether it can repurpose the terminal for hydrogen, in the event of gas being squeezed out of Australia’s energy mix in future.

Bluescope Steel and Shell, and Coregas have applied for the NSW government’s $150 million Hydrogen Hub Initiative fund for projects to be based in Port Kembla. The former wants to build an electrolyser at the Port Kembla Steelworks (PKSW) to make green hydrogen, and Coregas wants to establish a refuelling station there for heavy vehicles.

Government changes law to support offshore wind

Landmark legislation in late 2021 paved the way for offshore wind development, and the government anointed Gippsland as the first location for development in August last year.

Gippsland is the test case for Australian offshore wind, where the 2.2 GW, $10 billion Star of the South project, which is being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, will take up to a decade to install 200 turbines across a 500-square-kilometre patch of ocean.

The government named six locations where offshore development will be allowed to take place: Gippsland and the Southern Ocean region near Portland in Victoria, the Hunter and Illawarra zones in NSW, the Bass Strait region off northern Tasmania, and the Indian Ocean region off Perth/Bunbury in Western Australia.

The designations mean the dozens of proposals can move into planning stages.

Late last year the federal government joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA),