Following the success of the recent webinar launch of the Offshore Wind in Australia report, the Blue Economy CRC will be hosting a follow-up industry panel session on Tuesday 10th August at 3pm.
The recently released Blue Economy CRC Offshore Wind Energy in Australia report identified over 10 offshore wind projects that have been proposed or under development for Australia, with a combined capacity exceeding 25 GW.
This panel discussion features the developers of these projects who will share their insight into the opportunities for offshore wind and the challenges they will need to navigate to see success for the industry in Australia.
Panellists include BE CRC partner, Saitec Offshore and representatives from Star of the South, Green Energy Partners Australia, OceanEx Energy, Flotation Energy and Pilot Energy followed by an open Q&A.
Leading the panel discussion is David Carrascosa, Director of Operations at Saitec Offshore Technologies, a partner company within the Blue Economy CRC focussed on the development of floating offshore wind solutions.
“Concrete floating offshore wind solutions are probably the best way to unlock the huge potential for offshore wind in Australia, not only because of its competitiveness in cost but also thanks to the great amount of local content involved during the project construction.”
Guest panellist Andy Evans, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Oceanex Energy, a developer of large-scale offshore wind energy projects located off the coast of Australia states:
‘The increasing interest we have seen in offshore wind in Australia in the last 10 years since we founded the Star of the South is incredible. Through Oceanex, we now seek to capitalise on that background to develop and deliver a portfolio of projects that deliver large-scale opportunities for Australia and regional communities capitalising on existing skillsets and introducing new innovation opportunities with the use of mainly floating foundations.”
Joining the panel is Tim Sawyer, Director of Flotation Energy Plc, a specialist offshore wind developer using fixed and floating platforms.
“Having developed over 3GW of operating fixed and floating offshore wind and with 10GW in development, Flotation Energy is excited to bring our experience to Australia for our 1.5 GW Gippsland offshore wind project and to support the development of a sustainable offshore wind industry in Australia.”
The potential for offshore wind to transform Australia’s future clean energy mix is substantial along with the economic long-term benefit:
“Offshore wind energy is of significant national economic interest for Australia with its vast potential, scale to take over from coal in a timely manner, the opportunity to better utilise the existing grid systems and a having a less polarised social licence than onshore wind.” Dan K Hansen from Green Energy Partners Australia.
The potential for job generation, especially within regional Australias will be highlighted along with the proposed projects and projects currently underway.
“It’s an exciting time for offshore wind in Australia with momentum growing across the country. We’re proud to be progressing a project that would harness Gippsland’s strong offshore winds and provide good quality jobs for regional Victorians for decades.” Erin Coldham, Chief Development Officer of Star of the South.
This webinar continues the discussion on offshore wind opportunities for Australia, and the need to more fully capture the technology into Australia’s future clean energy system planning.
Webinar information
Tuesday 10th August, 3pm – 4.30pm (AEST)
Registrations now open
