Federal Government names Hunter coast for second offshore wind farm
The Federal government has announced plans to develop Australia’s second offshore wind farm off the Hunter region in New South Wales.
The eight gigawatt wind farm will feature hundreds of wind turbines, spread across approximately 5000 square kilometres of commercial and recreational fisheries near Newcastle and will be capable of powering around six million homes.
The towers will be as close as 10 kilometres from shore, so will be easily visible from the shoreline.
The area is one of six named as priority regions, including:
- The Indian Ocean region off Perth/Bunbury in WA.
- The Pacific Ocean region off the Hunter in NSW
- The Pacific Ocean region off the Illawarra in NSW
- The Southern Ocean region off Portland in Victoria
- The Bass Strait region off Northern Tasmania
In announcing the proposal, Climate Change and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen said the Hunter coast proposal would now going through its consultation stage and no construction could begin until it was declared an official offshore wind zone.
You can make your comments on the proposal here.
Public consultation closes on 28 April 2023.