Australia’s Port of Newcastle could accommodate, with required investments, all stages of development of floating offshore wind projects in the Hunter offshore wind zone and across Australasia, a study commissioned by the port has shown.
The 1,854 km2 Hunter offshore wind zone area has been identified to accommodate 5 GW of offshore wind development, which would utilise floating offshore wind technology.
Given the Port of Newcastle’s (PON) deep draft navigation channel, available development area, and absence of bridge infrastructure, it stands as a prime candidate for supporting the floating wind deployment in the zone, the study has shown.
The study indicated that with investment and appropriate stakeholder consultation, the Port of Newcastle has the physical characteristics to support the floating wind industry in New South Wales (NSW) and the wider Australasia region, in a variety of functions including, marshalling, assembly, staging and operations and maintenance. To service all stages of the development, the port would service the industry via multiple site locations.
This strategic development has the potential to not only establish the port as a central hub for floating wind projects in the Australasia region, but also to attract original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for both floating and fixed-bottom wind developments due to the port’s strategic proximity to the designated and prospective wind development zones in NSW, New Zealand and Victoria, with Bass Strait only a two-day ocean transit, according to the study.
Port of Newcastle will be able to further engage directly with project proponents once licences for the Hunter Offshore Wind Zone have been issued by the Commonwealth Government, the port said.