Star of the South, Australia’s first offshore wind project, has appointed Charles Rattray as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), commencing in August 2022.
Charles succeeds Casper Frost Thorhauge, who served as Star of the South CEO for two and a half years until March 2022. Erin Coldham is currently acting CEO and will resume her role as chief development officer in August 2022.
Rattray, who has experience across generation development, new technology and transmission, was most recently a managing director at Nexif Energy, where he oversaw energy projects through all stages of the project lifecycle, including the Lincoln Gap wind farm and Snapper Point gas peaking plant.
The newly appointed CEO has previously launched two energy services businesses to leverage opportunities in new markets and had a long career in the banking and financing sector, in both principal investment and lending for energy, infrastructure and mining, according to Star of the South.
The announcement follows news that Cbus Super has acquired a 10 per cent stake in the Star of the South, indicating strong investor confidence in the project and Australia’s growing offshore wind sector, said the company.
Located off Gippsland’s south coast in the Bass Strait, the offshore wind farm is planned to have up to 200 wind turbines and an installed capacity of 2.2 GW.
If it proceeds to construction, Star of the South would be able to power up to 1.2 million Victorian homes with clean energy, meeting up to 20 per cent of the Australian state’s electricity needs.
Along with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Cbus, the project is also owned by Australian Founders – Terry Kallis, Andy Evans and Peter Sgardelis.
According to Star of the South, the offshore wind sector has attracted significant interest recently with the Victorian Government announcing a 9 GW offshore wind target by 2040 and enabling legislation, including the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 that came into effect last week.
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