Developing a blueprint for the future of environmental assessments in the offshore wind industry

Hunter Offshore Wind Farm - Approvals Strategy and Environmental Assessment

Our client planned to establish a wind farm 20 kilometres off the coastline of New South Wales (NSW). Considering Australia is new to the offshore wind industry, our client reached out to us to develop an approvals strategy and conduct an environmental assessment to support their Feasibility Licence application for the proposed development.

We created a geographic information systems (GIS) platform to determine the optimal location for positioning the offshore wind turbine arrays and offshore substation including the cable easement that connects to a shore crossing onto the coastline. Additionally, we helped the client recognise environmental and heritage risks and identified all applicable approvals required. For example, how the project might impact the local native fauna and flora including migratory species.

The absence of state-based legislation related to offshore wind projects in the NSW jurisdiction presented one of our main challenges. This required us to leverage our industry network and knowledge to determine the most likely approvals pathway. Through collaboration with our ports and coastal hazards teams, we developed a comprehensive report that detailed potential impacts on shipping, navigation elements and marine and coastal features.

While the Federal Government ultimately didn’t award the Feasibility Licence to our client, our highly regarded effort has set a strong benchmark for desktop studies for other Australian offshore wind projects.