Australia has 30 years of catching up to do to harness its world-class offshore wind resource to help replace ageing coal power stations.
, and the new Albanese government has further picked up the pace with its announcement on August 5 of the six proposed offshore wind regions, a day after securing passage for a legislated target of 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.
Around Victoria, the strength and consistency of wind speeds are high by international standards, while a large area of shallow ocean less than 50-60 metres deep is suitable for wind turbine platforms fixed to the seabed, a much more mature and lower cost technology than floating turbines.up to 3100 jobs could be created during development and construction of its targeted 13 GW offshore capacity, and up to 3000 more over 44 years of operations.
“That is going to be a harder challenge, mainly because Australian offshore wind is on the starting blocks, there’s a lot to work through,” Sawyer says, noting that global offshore wind capacity totals more than 50 gigawatts compared to zero here.“But like anything, you’ve got to have that vision and the ambition to go with it, and if you aim for that you’ll hit something around there. You’ve got to aim for the stars and hit the moon, so to speak.
Industry sources also point to Australia’s track record in running over time and budget on large construction projects, including for gas projects in Victoria. “It’s the economic feasibility which is far more the real question here,” says Rystad’s Dixon, “The numbers that we have would say, why would you do this? It doesn’t make any economic sense.
But offshore wind competes more against gas than onshore renewables because it can typically generate during the early morning and evening peaks, while it also acts as a hedge against the inability to build transmission fast enough.
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