Global energy giant Equinor has partnered with Australian renewable energy company OceanEx to develop offshore wind projects in NSW, as the Norwegian company moves to capitalise on the state’s proposed generation target.
Offshore wind projects have been identified by federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen as central to Labor’s ambition to rapidly grow renewable energy generation. International companies have moved to develop offshore wind in Victoria, which will be the site of Australia’s first offshore projects.
Moving to position themselves as the first mover in NSW, Equinor has partnered with OceanEx. OceanEx was established by two of the founders of Star of the South, which is on course to be Australia’s first commissioned offshore wind farm as Victoria aims for 20 per cent of the state’s energy needs from the zero emission source by the end of the decade.
While other renewable energy developers see Victoria as the most attractive offshore wind location, Thomas Hansen, business development director at Equinor, said NSW had several advantages over Gippsland.
“We see energy demand, we see a highly skilled workforce, infrastructure, ports and then of course, the water depths and the (network) layout in Australia/ NSW means that floating technology where we have a solid track record is very well suited,” Mr Hansen said.
Equinor and OceanEx will begin work on three offshore wind projects in NSW, each with a proposed generation capacity of 2 gigawatts. The duo hope to work on the projects simultaneously but this will depend on the regulatory developments.
Mr Bowen has proposed offshore wind projects be permitted in the Hunter and Illawarra, both sites Equinor and OceanEx hope to develop in, but public consultations must occur before developers can seek a feasibility licence.
Equinor and OceanEx said the regulatory environment meant it was difficult to put a timetable on the development of the offshore projects in NSW.
OceanEx has previously said it was targeting first generation in NSW by the end of the decade.
The rush for offshore wind generation comes as Australia’s ageing coal infrastructure increasingly suffers from unscheduled outages or retires, exacerbating pressure to find alternative energy sources.
Australia’s energy market operator expects nearly two-thirds of Australia’s current coal generation capacity to be gone by 2030, with the last such plants to close by 2043.
Offshore wind is a key pillar of the Labor government’s plan to move aggressively to meet its target of having zero-emission sources make up more than 80 per cent of Australia’s electricity mix by 2030. This is a key element of Australia’s plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
A supply bottleneck is also adding to concerns about Australia’s ability to meet its target, and OceanEx chief executive Andy Evans said declaring both Hunter and Illawarra as open to offshore wind would ease logjams.
“We want to hit both up contemporaneously,” Mr Evans said. “It’s much easier for us to be working supply chain, saying, ‘You’re coming here and building multiple projects simultaneously rather than staggering each one’; and even little things like getting vessels here. It’s easier to get vessels and park them for five years for two projects, rather than having one for three then sending it back and trying to get it back again.”
Picture: Equinor business development director Thomas Hansen with OceanEx co-founders Andy Evans and Peter Sgardelis.
This article first appeared in the Financial Review.
