By Mike Foley and Nick Toscano
One of the biggest offshore wind farm projects planned for the Australian coast has been put on ice by its developer over fears a Peter Dutton-led government would kill it outright as part of a broader Coalition promise to slash the areas where turbines can be built.
BlueFloat Energy, the Spanish wind farm company planning a project in the waters off Wollongong south of Sydney, has asked the government to pause the assessment of its application for a permit until after the federal election due by May.
Offshore turbines, seen here in a file photo, can capture strong sea winds to generate more reliable power.
The project, which is in its earliest stages, could have created hundreds of jobs but has attracted fierce opposition from some locals who fear it will blot their views and harm the marine environment. The project is in the NSW South Coast seat of Whitlam, a safe Labor seat, and close to the seat of Gilmore, a Liberal target in the upcoming election.
A spokesperson for BlueFloat, which is owned by US investors, confirmed on Friday that it had “asked the government to consider putting [the wind farm project] on hold until after the election.”
Offshore wind farms, which can harness stronger and more reliable winds than onshore turbines, are one of the world’s fastest-growing renewable energy sectors.
The Albanese government has forecast tens of billions of dollars will be invested in six offshore wind zones it has created in Commonwealth waters around the country to make development easier. They are: Bunbury in Western Australia, Southern Ocean and Gippsland in Victoria, Bass Strait near Tasmania and Illawarra and Hunter in NSW.
However, offshore wind has attracted local opponents and Albanese was heckled by anti-wind farm protesters earlier this month when he held a press conference in Wollongong.
Dutton has claimed the Albanese government has overlooked environmental concerns, as well as the impact on local tourism and pledged to scrap the Bunbury, Southern Ocean, Illawarra and Hunter wind farm zones.
Dutton’s anti-offshore wind agenda represents a backflip on the Coalition’s position during the Morrison government, when in 2021 it created laws to permit offshore wind developments in Commonwealth waters.
Then-energy minister Angus Taylor declared the laws would unlock a “wave of new investment”, create jobs and strengthen Australia’s economy.
Nationals leader David Littleproud was quick to claim credit following BlueFloat’s announcement on Friday.
“The Nationals were the first political party to have the courage to commit to ruling this project out last year and instead prioritise protecting the natural environment,” he said.
The Labor electorate of Gilmore, which begins in the South Coast town of Kiama near the wind farm zone and extends south, is on the Coalition’s list of target seats in this election.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Friday that the government had agreed to BlueFloat’s request to pause development, which he said was driven by Dutton’s opposition to offshore wind that would harm employment and economic growth.
“The government has paused consideration of the feasibility licence at the applicant’s request until after the federal election,” Bowen said.
“This is due to the sovereign risk created by Peter Dutton’s reckless and unprincipled opposition to investment and jobs in the renewables sector.”
Australia’s most advanced project, Star of the South in eastern Victoria’s Gippsland zone, is slated to begin construction in coming years and deliver power by 2030. It has said it would invest $8 billion in Australia in its construction phase, including $3 billion for the local economy.
Unlike the Gippsland project, the Illawarra wind farm zone is in deep waters which makes it much more expensive to build. Other potential wind farm operators have previously pulled out of the running to develop projects in the area.
Energy policy will form a major part of the election debate. The Albanese government has set a target to raise the share of renewables to 82 per cent of the electricity grid by 2030.
Dutton’s opposition has attacked the government’s “eggs-in-one-basket” energy policy and pledged to slow the renewables rollout, replacing a significant volume of wind and solar power with seven nuclear power plants to be built from 2037.
Electrical Trades Union national secretary Michael Wright blamed Dutton for BlueFloat’s decision to pause its Illawarra project.
“Dutton’s campaign of fear and misinformation is now costing jobs in the Illawarra,” Wright said. “To keep the lights on we need projects like this.”
Modelling of the nuclear policy – conducted for the opposition by private firm Frontier Economics and cited by Coalition MPs to claim its plan would deliver cheaper energy than the government – assumes no electricity generation from offshore wind by 2050.
“We’re going to bring on more gas by the bucket load,” Opposition resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald told The Australian, claiming the opposition would halve project assessment times.
McDonald said she would create a new reservation policy on a case-by-case basis, that forces selected new projects to direct some of their supply to local buyers. Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien was contacted for comment.
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