Offshore wind farm firm tips 'massive' benefits and seeks community views

BlueFloat Energy, the developer of the proposed Eastern Rise Offshore Wind Project off the Hunter coast, is running a series of community drop-in sessions aimed at gaining insight to inform its project plans.

With 115 floating wind turbines and three offshore substations, the project will sit approximately 25-45km off the coast.

It is among a dozen similar projects vying to operate in the region over coming decades.

The Eastern Rise project would generate enough electricity to power 825,000 homes, the equivalent to almost a quarter of all households in NSW.

The community drop-in sessions coincide with BlueFloat's forthcoming environmental referrals under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The purpose of the referrals is to determine whether further assessment is required to be undertaken in relation to the Project.

"BlueFloat Energy is committed to bringing the Eastern Rise Offshore Wind Project to life through the experience, feedback, and ideas of the local community. We want to create lasting benefits for the Hunter and Port Stephens region through the delivery of our project. Our community engagement sessions represent just the start of our community consultation," BlueFloat Energy's Australian country manager, Nick Sankey, said.

It comes only a week after it was revealed that the government's three-month Hunter offshore wind zone consultation process received 1900 submissions.

The majority of the submissions were from the Central Coast (38.3 per cent) followed by Lake Macquarie (17.6 per cent) and Newcastle (15.5 per cent).

Almost 94 per cent of the submissions came from individuals.

Seventy per cent of the submissions contained comments about the environment, including fishing and visual impacts.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will consider the submissions before deciding whether to approve or modify the proposed zone, which takes in a 2810 square kilometre area extending from Norah Head to Port Stephens.

Mr Sankey said the offshore wind industry would provide clean energy, as well as jobs in construction, operation and maintenance.

"We expect there to be massive benefit for the region and we are keen to deliver this benefit in a way that ensures that other industries and community members are not negatively affected, underlining the value of these sessions," he said.

The Maritime Union of Australia, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union and the Electrical Trades Union are urging the government to extend the project south to Terrigal and increase the area located in shallow water (up to 300 metres).

They argue this would would not only enable the project to be built quicker but would reduce construction costs, which would ultimately be passed on to consumers.

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