Australian Consortium Unveils 2 GW Floating Offshore Wind Plan for Hunter Area | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND
Australian Consortium Unveils 2 GW Floating Offshore Wind Plan for Hunter Area | Offshore Wind
Australian Consortium Unveils 2 GW Floating Offshore Wind Plan for Hunter Area
Ireland-headquartered Simply Blue Group, offshore services provider Subsea7, and Australia’s Spark Renewables have unveiled their plan to develop the Sea Fern floating offshore wind project in the Commonwealth’s newly declared Hunter wind zone in the Pacific Ocean.
A few days ago, the Albanese Government officially declared Australia’s second offshore wind zone off the coast of New South Wales Hunter region, which has the potential to accommodate up to 5 GW of offshore wind capacity.
The Subsea7, Simply Blue Group, and Spark Renewables consortium are planning to develop a project using floating wind technology that would have a generation capacity of up to 2 GW.
The name “Sea Fern” was selected for its connection to the native flora of the Hunter coast, symbolising values of sustainability, innovation and environmental consciousness, aligning with the consortium’s principals, the companies said.
Sea Fern floating offshore wind project is currently in the inception phase of applying for a feasibility licence.
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A feasibility licence, if granted, would enable the consortium to consult and work collaboratively with the community, businesses, and industry.
Within the 7-year feasibility licence period, the developers said they would undertake the necessary technical, environmental and social impact studies, approvals and consultation.
The development approval would be required by 2030 to start construction, with expected operations running through to the 2060s and beyond, said the companies.
Simply Blue Group, Subsea7, and Spark Renewables decided to join forces to pursue floating offshore wind development in the Hunter and Illawarra regions in March this year.
Simply Blue Group and Subsea7 are already working together on the 100 MW Salamander floating offshore wind project in Scotland.
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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.