BlueFloat Energy has decided to cease the development of offshore wind projects in New Zealand following a global strategic review.
BlueFloat Energy said it remains confident that offshore wind presents a strategic opportunity for New Zealand, contributing to both decarbonization and economic growth.
However, the decision to halt the development of offshore wind projects stems from significant uncertainties about how the market for offshore wind will develop in the country – including both route to market and allocation of the seabed, said the company.
“We encourage the New Zealand Government to continue its efforts to establish an enabling regulatory regime for offshore wind and to support the industry in overcoming these uncertainties”, stated BlueFloat Energy.
Going forward, the company said it will focus on the most advanced projects in its portfolio.
BlueFloat revealed offshore wind plans in New Zealand back in 2021 when the company partnered with Energy Estate and Elemental Group to develop offshore wind farms in the country. The consortium planned to develop four offshore wind projects with a total capacity of up to 5 GW.
At the beginning of November 2022, the consortium announced its first project , located in South Taranaki, which was set to use bottom-fixed technology and was expected to have a capacity of 900 MW. Later that same month, the three partners revealed another project in New Zealand, an offshore wind farm in South Auckland and West Waikato.
In 2023, BlueFloat signed an agreement with Taranaki Offshore Partnership (TOP), a partnership between NZ Super Fund and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and Port Taranaki for a joint study into how the port’s assets, infrastructure, and land can support the growth of the offshore wind industry in Aotearoa.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) , New Zealand has a technical offshore wind potential of 2,252 GW. Of this, 148 GW has been marked suitable for fixed-bottom wind turbines and 2,104 GW for floating wind.