Offshore wind farm on state’s horizon as consultation to start

TASMANIA could soon have its first offshore wind project with federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announcing a consultation process was set to begin.

Located off the northeast coast, the multibillion-dollar BOWE wind farm has been proposed by Australian company Nexsphere and would involve 35 to 70 turbines built 30km offshore to minimise visual impact.

Nexsphere CEO Glen Kierse said the consultation process was an important next step in the process.

“Stage one of the BOWE wind farm will generate an estimated 1000 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power over 325,000 homes, and will assist in meeting Tasmania’s 200 per cent renewables target by 2040, and in transitioning Australia’s grid to a low carbon future,” Mr Kierse said.

“It will provide enormous long-term employment and investment opportunities and deliver significant growth for the state with ongoing construction and operations jobs, a corporate headquarters, research opportunities and marine engineering roles.”

Energy Minister Guy Barnett said Bass Strait – and its consistently high winds – had been named as one of the top options for offshore wind energy generation in the nation by the national Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.

“As part of the Tasmanian Renewable Energy Action Plan we have identified the development of Tasmania’s ocean, tidal and offshore energy resources as a key growth opportunity that can generate significant economic returns for our state and bring more jobs and investment to regional communities.”

Climate Council senior researcher Tim Baxter said the offshore wind project was an exciting and critical step in realising a cleaner, cheaper, healthier future that is free of coal and gas.

“This announcement is a symbol of Australia’s climate shift. This is exactly the kind of urgent action we need to reduce pollution this decade,” Mr Baxter said.

“While Europe takes great advantage of its offshore wind resources, foot dragging by the previous federal government means Australia – with worldclass offshore wind resources – still has no industry at all.

“Taking advantage of offshore wind brings many advantages to the grid, further improving the reliability of our power supply.”