Singapore-based Vena Energy has unveiled plans for a 2,000MW offshore wind farm in Victoria, on the same day as the state fast-tracked the planned exit from coal power and set a new ambitious target of 95 per cent renewables by 2035.
Plans by Vena Energy for the Blue Marlin project in the Gippsland Basin off the south-east cost of Victoria were first revealed by RenewEconomy in August.
On Thursday, the company confirmed the first stage will be sized up to 500MW, but the overall project could reach 2GW, potentially accounting for up to 20 per cent of the state’s electricity needs.
It is part of some 10GW of offshore wind projects planned by the company for the Asia-Pacific region. It expects the first stage to start construction around 2028.
The Blue Marlin project joins a swag of offshore wind proposals for what is expected to be Australia’s first declared offshore wind zone, and which will likely be the main focus of up to $1 billion in support for transmission infrastructure in federal Labor’s Rewiring the Nation program.
The most advanced project in the region is the 2.2GW Star of the South proposal, but others are also jostling for position, including Corio’s 2.5GW Great Eastern project, the 1.4GW Great Gippsland project advanced by BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate, and Flotation Energy’s 1.5GW Seadragon project.
More projects are gathered around the Portland area in the state’s south west, with others on the south coast.
See also RenewEconomy’s Offshore Wind Farm Map of Australia
Victoria may seek more offshore wind sooner
Victoria wants 4GW of offshore wind by 2035 and 9GW of offshore wind by 2040 to ensure it has the renewables capacity to replace the three ageing brown coal generators. There is a chance those targets are fast tracked now that it will legislate for the coal generators to leave the grid by 2035 at the latest.
The market operator had already forecast that coal could be gone by 2032.
Owen Sela, the head of Vena Energy in Australia, said Blue Marlin was first identified as an ideal site for offshore wind development in 2017, and hailed the leadership of state and federal governments.
“Recent changes in regulation and market landscape has highlighted the importance of offshore wind as a large- scale renewable energy source that has the potential to deliver improved security of supply, greater diversity in the energy mix, and better outcomes for electricity consumers,” Sela said in a statement.
He said it would be located 23 km off the coast of the Wellington shire to minimise visual impact and to take advantage of stronger offshore winds. It planned to install up to 140 turbines sized at between 16MW and 21MW, in depths of up to 53 metres.
Vena to focus on local suppliers
The company would focus on local procurement and Australian suppliers.
Vena Energy already operates the 97MW Tailem Bend solar farm in South Australia, the state’s first utility scale solar farm, and is currently building the 85MW second stage, with a battery also planned for the site. It recently completed the Wandoan battery, the first big battery installation in Queensland.
It has a total of 35GW of solar, onshore wind, offshore wind, battery storage and hybrid renewable energy projects operating or in development.
“Climate change presents a real and ever-present threat to the environment, as well as our way of life, and Vena Energy is committed to accelerating the development of innovative renewable energy projects and generation of clean, sustainable energy in Australia,” Sela said.
