Australia unveils Indian Ocean offshore wind plans
Australia unveils Indian Ocean offshore wind plans | Windpower Monthly
On Tuesday (20 February) the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water released a draft proposal for a 7674 km2 area, at least 20km offshore from Bunbury in Western Australia, between Dawesville and Cape Naturaliste.
The draft plans could support up to 20GW of offshore wind capacity and generate up to 12,000 construction jobs and 6,000 ongoing jobs in the region, the government said.
The government invited comments on the proposals in the first round of public consultations that runs from 20 February (today) until May 3. The primary focus will be on the suitability of the region for offshore wind, and what its impact could be for local communities and marine users.
The proposals follow the official declaration of several zones for offshore wind development in Australia last year, including in the Pacific Ocean off New South Wales, and the Southern Ocean’s Bass Strait off the coast of Victoria.
After the public consultation closes, on 3 May, the government will consider whether to declare a finalised Indian Ocean zone suitable for offshore wind development. A regulatory process will then start where potential developers will apply for feasibility licences, and environmental approvals will be received.
A host of different developers in various consortiums are already eyeing offshore wind development in Australia’s previously declared offshore wind zones in the south and east of the country.
Among them is Irish developer Simply Blue Group, which announced a joint consortium with offshore contractors Subsea7 and Australian renewables company Spark Renewables last March. Other wind energy developers, including Norwegian energy giant Equinor and offshore wind developer BlueFloat Energy are also eyeing offshore wind projects in the region.
Australia has around 11GW of installed wind energy at present, all of which is onshore according to Windpower Intelligence, the data and research division of Windpower Monthly.
Fossil fuels continue to dominate Australia’s energy mix but the country is targeting net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with individual states setting goals for offshore wind development. Victoria, for example, is targeting 2GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, rising to 9GW by 2040.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.