Victoria has set a target to generate the equivalent of about 20 per cent of its energy needs from offshore wind within a decade, as the state targets soaring growth for the nascent sector to replace ageing and carbon-intensive coal power.

Coal power still accounts for about 60 per cent of Australian energy needs, but fossil fuel generators are under intense pressure from the rapid increase in renewable energy, stoking concern about what will prop-up the country’s National Electricity Market.