Wind farms need to be in the ocean, not onshore, says pioneer

For Oceanex CEO Andy Evans, offshore wind farms just make sense: ‘The wind is a lot stronger, it blows more frequently and we can build bigger projects.’

Andy Evans, chief executive, Oceanex Energy. Picture: Nic Walker

Andy Evans has been beating the drum for offshore wind farms for more than a decade. He and his two co-founders launched Star of the South – an ambitious off-shore wind farm project, off the coast of Gippsland – back in 2012.

“We were the guinea pigs. When we set up the project, it wasn’t a strong time to be discussing renewable energy anywhere in Australia,” Evans says. “Realistically, though, offshore wind is just another large major infrastructure but it is out in the ocean with green benefits. It’s just taken a long while to get that narrative.”

For Evans, offshore wind farms just make sense: “Rather than building a lot of onshore wind farms, you can build them offshore because the wind is a lot stronger, it blows more frequently and we can build bigger projects.”

His role in renewables has seen him included in Australia’s 100 Top Energy Players, released in The Australian’s special magazine, The List.

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Evans and his co-founders ran Star of the South for six years before handing the project over to the world’s largest green investment firm, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). Evans’s team then went on to found Oceanex Energy, an offshore wind farm developer responsible for locating potential sites for new infrastructure.

He’s the first to admit that it’s been a slow journey but is optimistic that offshore wind is finally starting to gain momentum. In June 2022, the government passed legislation to allow offshore wind farm development. “Now we’re in the middle of making applications for the seven-year feasibility licences to do the assessment work to hopefully then build a project,” Evans explains.

Oceanex Energy has earmarked five potential locations around Australia, including one off Bunbury in Western Australia and four in NSW, including in the Hunter and Illawarra regions. The team also has plans to expand into New Zealand.

Local communities are divided on the wind farms, citing potential negative impacts to the marine environment and fishing industries. These concerns will all be considered as part of the lengthy approvals process that includes community consultation and environmental impact studies.

What isn’t in dispute is the financial benefits of offshore wind farms to regional communities. “During the construction phase, which is three to four years, there will be at least 3000 direct jobs,” Evans explains. “Once construction is finished, for the next 30 years there will be 300 permanent jobs. And they’ll all be local because it’s 24/7 machinery that needs maintaining.”

While wind farm roles won’t directly replace traditional energy jobs, Evans sees the opportunity for transition of employees. “When we look at coal, in NSW in particular, the last coal generator will shut by about 2033 and the NSW [wind farm] projects will realistically come on from 2030,” he says. “There will be a lot of jobs that are not exactly the same but they’re also not that different.”

Action on offshore wind farms may finally be moving forward but that doesn’t mean turbines will be floated tomorrow. “There will be no turbines in the water anywhere in Australia until about 2028 and that will be in Gippsland with the Star of the South,” says Evans, who is a shareholder in the project.

The slow pace of affairs hasn’t deterred Evans, who in November is releasing a documentary called Planet Wind: The Global Story of Offshore Wind to further educate people on why he thinks this is the way forward for Australia. (The feature will open the 2023 Offshore Wind Australia Conference in Sydney.) Rather, he is optimistic about our green future.

“This is an incredible economic and social opportunity for Australia,” he says.

“We’re one of the very few countries that’s blessed with so many resources where the supply of the resources outweighs the demand for it. Our population is tiny compared with the resources we’ve got at our disposal. I think we should be taking our resources and smarts to the world.”