World’s largest offshore wind developer gets federal nod to start Gippsland studies – with conditions

An application by Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind farm developer, to start investigating the seabed off Gippsland for its planned 2.8 gigawatt project has been waved through the EPBC process in just seven months.

The Danish wind giant lodged its federal environmental application for the Gippsland 1 wind project, which will cover a 700km2 area, 56-100km off the coast of Gippsland, at the end of January – three months before the first winners of the Gippsland offshore wind feasibility licences were announced. 

Orsted is also the only awarded Gippsland offshore wind operator to lodge an EPBC (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) application this year.

However, the approval comes with a 14-strong list of conditions that Orsted must fulfil in order to make sure that it remains that way, indicating how challenging navigating marine research is going to be for the 10 projects so far that have been awarded feasibility leases. 

These conditions stipulate that all work must stop if any marine mammal is injured or killed, and work can’t start again without government approval.

They also ban sparkers/boomers, which send acoustic pulses through the water to help with mapping, mini-airguns or dynamic positioning systems within 3km of Southern Right Whale breeding grounds between 31 May and 1 September and limit noise levels to 120-160 decibels, and require at least two observers to be on deck at all times. 

Ships are limited to 10 knots in designated biologically important areas to stop crustaceans being hit.

While sightings have been made of cows and calves all through the Bass Strait, the only known breeding ground of Southern Right Whales is at Logans Beach, near Warnambool, according to a study last year by the Arthur Rylah Institute for the Victoria government.  

It noted that sounds associated with developing wind farms, such as pile driving, are the greatest cause of concern for the health of marine animals, but the continuous sounds from an operating turbine could also be a problem as they are at a similar frequency to whale calls. 

The most damaging sounds however, are those issued by airgun arrays that are towed behind ships doing research for oil and gas exploration. 

The EPBC nod noted that Orsted’s zone is just 260m from the Beagle Marine Park and close to the Kent Group national park which covers three islands in the Strait. 

In April, Ørsted 1 was awarded a feasibility licence, with Orsted 2 still under consultation. The proposed Gippsland 2 project is directly adjacent and if it gets across the line during consultations with First Nations groups for a feasibility licence, will be 2GW.

Orsted believes both sites can be operational by the early 2030s.