Offshore wind farms can now be developed in Gippsland, commencing with the feasibility licence application process, following the Commonwealth Government’s declaration of Australia’s first offshore wind area.
Key points
- Development of offshore wind farms now permitted in the Gippsland area, commencing with the feasibility licence application process
- Waters west of Wilsons Promontory will not be available for offshore wind development
- The declared area is smaller (3 zones) than the proposed declared area (6 zones)
The feasibility licence application process will be governed by the new OEI Regulations that commenced on 2 November 2022. You can read our update on the Regulations here.
The changes made to the final declared area respond to feedback received from public consultation. Large areas have been removed from the proposed area, including waters west of Wilsons Prom. A 10 kilometre ‘buffer zone’ from the shore has also been included to reduce visual amenity impacts.
The feasibility licence application process is expected to be lengthy due to the high number of proponents. The Australian Government Offshore Infrastructure Registrar (Registrar) released a feasibility licence guideline (December 2022) to assist proponents. The Offshore Infrastructure Regulator (Regulator) has also released new guidance to provide advice on compliance for licence holders and other stakeholders with the requirements of the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021, including during construction, installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of offshore renewable energy infrastructure. Feedback is sought on the Regulator guidance until 20 March 2023.
The Government had indicated feasibility licence applications for Gippsland will open soon, but an exact date has not yet been provided. [1]
We will provide a more detailed analysis of the Registrar feasibility licence application guidelines and the Regulator guidance in the new year.
Figure 1: Declared Offshore Wind Area in Gippsland. [2]
