Boost to Equinor-Oceanex $7bn floating plan as Australia tees up next offshore wind zone

Plans by Equinor and local partner Oceanex for a A$10bn ($6.8bn) floating wind project off Australia got a boost when the government lined up the Hunter region of New South Wales (NSW) as its next offshore wind zone.

The news was welcomed by Norwegian oil and gas group Equinor and Oceanex – one of the pioneers of floating wind in Australia – which are together developing the 2GW Novocastrian Offshore Wind Project in deep waters more than 20km off the city of Newcastle.

Oceanex CEO Andy Evans said: “Today’s announcement is a welcome step. Making sure we arrive at a position where we have a viable offshore wind energy sector in the Hunter will require tremendous investment and effort to make sure we have the supply chains and workforces ready.

“The Hunter already has the mindset, infrastructure and workforce needed to accelerate progress towards developing a new offshore wind industry. We want to leverage this potential as much as possible to enable the Novocastrian Offshore Wind Farm to enter construction phase this decade.”

Bowen said the combination of existing infrastructure, huge electricity demand from heavy industry and need for new power to replace retiring coal generation makes Hunter a strong candidate for offshore wind.

The Norwegian group’s Australia representative Thomas Hansen said: “The Hunter is an attractive area for development of offshore wind projects due to strong wind resources, energy demand, infrastructure, industrial capabilities and workforce.

“Projects in NSW require the use of floating technology given water depths, an area where Equinor is a world leader operating two-thirds of the world’s floating offshore wind capacity with more than a decade of operational experience.”