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Following extensive community consultation with local leaders, industry, unions, First Nations people, community groups and individuals, the Illawarra offshore wind zone in New South Wales has been amended. The amended zone will now be 20 kilometres from the coast and excludes significant environmental areas including the Biologically Important Area for the Little Penguin, the Shelf Rocky Reef Key Ecological Feature and the Southern Right Whale migration and reproduction area.
The final area for the zone is 1,022 square kilometres – reducing the zone by a third from the originally proposed zone. This is the fourth officially declared zone in the country.
The zone will also power existing heavy industry with cleaner, cheaper energy. It has the potential to generate an estimated 2.9 GW of electricity, enough to power 1.8 million homes.
Feasibility licence applications for offshore wind projects in the Illawarra zone open from June 17 and close on August 15, 2024. These licences will only be awarded to developers whose proposed projects do the most to support Australia's workforce and energy security, protect the environment, and share the marine space with shipping, tourism, and fishing industries.
Construction can only begin after the feasibility stage is completed and developers have gained subsequent environmental and management plan approvals. The final declared zone can be found at:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/renewable/offshore-wind/areas/illawarra
