A consortium of BlueFloat Energy, Energy Estate and Elemental Group has announced plans to build a 900MW wind project offshore from South Taranaki, New Zealand.
Located 22km from the coast, the offshore facility will be the first of four projects planned for the Aotearoa region with the potential to add up to 5GW of renewable energy capacity.
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The South Taranaki project will be built at a site that can accommodate several offshore wind farms developed by various firms.
These wind facilities would be compatible with each other, thereby supporting the acceleration of the clean energy transition in the region.
The project is expected to create at least 600 jobs during its construction, operations and maintenance phases.
It would generate enough clean energy to power nearly 440,000 homes.
The project is currently in the feasibility stage and the consortium believes that construction works at the site could begin by 2030.
The consortium’s partnerships director Justine Gilliland said that the offshore wind has the potential to deliver clean energy at scale for Aotearoa in both the medium and long term.
Gilliland said: “Offshore wind will be an important part of the future energy mix in Aotearoa and will help the country meet its net zero targets.
“South Taranaki is an obvious choice as it has a best-in-class wind resource and a skilled local workforce with decades of experience working offshore.
“We are committed to developing the industry sustainably and are already engaging with environmental and local experts to understand how we can mitigate potential risks to marine mammals, seabirds and the coastal environment.”
According to the Offshore Wind Discussion Paper published by Venture Taranaki in April 2020, the proposed site offers ‘huge’ potential due to its favourable environmental conditions.
Earlier this year, BlueFloat Energy partnered with Falck Renewables to develop a 975MW floating wind farm offshore from Sardinia.
