Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has secured around 1,300 sq km of seabed in Australia to progress two offshore wind projects. CIP received exclusivity rights to develop offshore wind projects over two areas – one of 586 sq km and the other of around 689 sq km. Combined, the two projects have the potential to deliver up to 4.4GW of capacity, enough to power 2.4m homes. Coinciding with the Australian government granting CIP two offshore wind feasibility licences, the company launched Southerly Ten – a dedicated platform company for the development and delivery of offshore wind projects in Australia. CIP has been working on the development of offshore wind in Australia since 2017. “CIP was a first mover in developing offshore wind in Australia and has been proudly working with local communities, government, and the industry to kick start an offshore wind industry,” said Jørn Hammer, partner and head of CIP Australia. Southerly Ten will lead the development and delivery of CIP’s Australian offshore wind portfolio, including its first two projects named Star of the South and the Kut-Wut Brataualung. Apart from CIP’s two projects and Ørsted’s Gippsland 01 project, which Splash already reported on, Australia gave three more licenses to the High Sea Wind, Gippsland Skies, and Blue Mackerel North projects. If feasibility is proven, developers can then apply for a commercial licence to build an offshore wind project to generate electricity commercially. The government intends to grant another six licences, subject to First Nations consultation. These include Ørsted’s Gippsland 02 project, BlueFloat’s Gippsland Dawn, Iberdrola’s Aurora Green as well as Navigator North and Kent Offshore Wind. According to Australian authorities, these 12 projects could generate 25GW of electricity, enough to power the Gippsland region’s annual industrial consumption 100 times over, or more electricity than the entire state of Victoria generated last year. The proposed projects could create over 15,000 jobs during construction and another 7,500 ongoing jobs. Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio said projects in the Gippsland offshore wind zone will be key to delivering the state’s renewable energy transition and meeting targets of at least 2GW of offshore wind energy generation by 2032, 4GW by 2035, and 9GW by 2040. “We’re proud to be paving the way for the country’s first offshore wind farms which will harness our world-class offshore wind resources and power homes and businesses across Australia with renewable energy,” she added. A total of 37 applications were received for the 15,000 square kilometre zone off Gippsland. Australia was looking for 600MW of capacity and it received bids for 19,000MW which is 32 times more than what was asked for. Feasibility licences were not granted to the remaining 25 applicants. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsAustralia