Offshore wind power plans for Portland Smelter get a federal boost

Plans to power the Portland Aluminium Smelter with up to 100% renewables from a 1,000MW wind farm off the southwest coast of Victoria will begin early stage development after winning backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

ARENA said on Thursday that it had awarded $1.5 million in grant funding to Spinifex Offshore Wind Farm, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alinta Energy, to conduct a wind resource assessment and accelerate initial development activities for the 1GW project in waters off the coast of Portland.

The $4 billion Spinifex project was first flagged by Alinta CEO Jeff Dimery in an interview on RenewEconomy’s weekly Energy Insiders podcast almost exactly a year ago, as part of the thermal energy generation company’s plans to move beyond fossil fuels.

As the owner of the Loy Yang B coal plant in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Alinta was part of a recent five year deal alongside AGL and Origin to provide subsidised power to the Portland Smelter, both to keep it running and in exchange for its services in the increasingly crucial demand response market.

But like other major smelters in Australia and around the globe, Portland – which can consume as much as 10 per cent of Victoria’s electricity supply – is coming under increasing pressure from climate conscious customers to green up its final product by using more energy from renewables and less from coal.

This is where Spinifex comes in.

Greening up heavy industry

The offshore wind farm is proposed to be connected to the National Electricity Market via the existing substation at the smelter and transform it into one of Australia’s first to be powered by up to 100 per cent renewables.

The trick will be integrating variable renewable energy generation with a large, continuous, industrial load. ARENA says a $3.47 million phase 1 of Spinifex’s proposed development pathway aims to improve understanding of its commercial viability.

This will include using LiDAR technology to validate the wind resources at the proposed site, undertaking stakeholder and community consultation activities, and scoping activities for relevant planning and environmental studies required under the federal government’s brand new Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller says the Agency’s funding for the project marks its first time supporting the transition to low emissions metals.

“We have a real need to help reduce emissions from smelters, which require a steady and sizeable supply of electricity to operate,” Miller said on Thursday.

“Offshore wind could be a potential part of the solution space to this problem.

“Further, the early stage wind resource assessment of the Spinifex project will provide the industry with valuable
insights regarding commercial, technical and regulatory aspects of offshore wind developments in Australia.”

An offshore wind proposal with an edge

Spinifex is one of more than 20 – and counting – projects proposed for Australian waters since the offshore industry was finally given the green light in the final months of the final term of the Coalition government.

See RenewEconomy’s Offshore Wind Map of Australia.

The Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 commenced on June 02 and, just last week, Labor’s federal energy minister Chris Bowen tabled the final piece of legislation to kick-start the industry.

But as RenewEconomy noted at the time of the Spinifex announcement last year, Alinta’s project stands out as one of the first offshore wind projects to identify a major and valuable customer, which may enable it to leapfrog other proposals.

“Spinifex has terrific potential because the region has strong wind and the project has a ready-made grid
connection point, a potential customer, a port, and suitable topography,” said Alinta’s Dimery in comments on Thursday.

“Given the offshore wind industry is in its infancy, the support from ARENA will be critical to reaching the next stage,” he said.

Wind powered promise

For its part, the Portland smelter – a joint venture between Alcoa, Citic and Marubeni – has welcomed Alinta’s offshore wind proposal, which aligns with the industry’s direction to decarbonise and makes good sense for the smelter’s future.

Alinta and the Spinifex project have established a Memorandum of Understanding with the Portland Aluminium Smelter to investigate the possibility of the wind farm supplying electricity to the smelter with any excess being exported to the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Alinta is funding development activities, while the smelter is providing resources to support the technical, commercial and engagement work streams.

“This proposal offers an ability to make a step change impact to Portland Aluminium’s carbon footprint and we welcome the opportunity to be involved in supporting the early phase investigations of a such an exciting renewable project on the Australian energy landscape,” smelter manager Ron Jorgensen said in a statement last year.