. Mirjam Tome, senior project director at the company’s Australian offshore wind division, said GIP had entered into a joint venture with Australis Energy, which has developed similar projects in Europe.The joint venture hopes to build three offshore projects – in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia – with a total capacity of 1.4 gigawatts.
“We have progressed environmental and permitting approvals in state waters, but we can only plan to expand those into Commonwealth waters when the minister makes those declarations,” Ms Tome said. “We can’t make an application for a feasibility licence until then.”She said that if the declarations were made soon, the joint venture could accelerate its work, but construction was still unlikely much before the end of the decade.
Several states are aggressively promoting offshore wind as they look to wean themselves off fossil fuels, while the zero emission source might require less onshore transmission lines, an aspect that is attracting notable opposition.20 per cent of its energy needs from offshore wind within a decade.