Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 09 2023

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EDF buys 10-GW in Australian

floating offshore wind project

Project targets early 2030s as date to come online

AUSTRALIA EDF Renewables has purchased the largest pro- advantage of the strong winds of the Bass Strait.
posed offshore floating wind project in Australia. The 15,000-sq km area was the first offshore
The 10-GW Newcastle Offshore Wind project is wind zone to be officially declared by the federal
located within the proposed Hunter-Central Coast government, which will pave the way for the first
renewable energy zone in New South Wales. It lies detailed feasibility studies. The 2.2-GW Star of
offshore Newcastle, north of Sydney. the South, which the government is streamlin-
The wind farm would be close to port and ing, is slated to be online in 2029.
energy transmission infrastructure. It could Still, zones like Newcastle are expected to be
come online in the early 2030s. The seller was next in line.
Newcastle Offshore Wind Energy (NOWE). EDF Renewables is a major player. It has The wind farm
It is the most significant move into Australia’s more than 10 years of expertise in offshore wind
burgeoning offshore renewables sector for EDF energy, operates seven offshore wind farms would be
Renewables, part of France’s government-owned around the world, and is building another five,
utility and nuclear giant EDF. including its first floating offshore wind project close to port
EDF Renewables says the project is likely to in France.
be developed in stages, aligning with the pro- “We are a significant player in developing and energy
gressive retirement of the region’s ageing coal- large, complex projects like the proposed New- transmission
fired power stations, most of which will be closed castle offshore wind farm,” said Dave Johnson,
within a decade. the head of EDF Renewables in Australia. infrastructure.
Denmark’s Ørsted, Norway’s Equinor, the In 2021, EDF Renewables entered renewable
UK’s SSE, Spain’s Iberdrola, Corio – a portfo- energy in Australia by launching the Banana
lio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Range wind project, a 280-MW installation in
Group – as well as smaller players have bought Queensland that also received authorisation for
into the sector. battery storage. Later in 2021, EDF Renewables
The country’s first offshore wind farms – the said it would establish a collection of sizeable
pipeline is thought to be around 50 GW – are solar assets in the Hunter Valley, one of the coun-
likely to be built in Gippsland in Victoria, taking try’s main coal regions.™

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