Offshore windfarm boss says Tanya Plibersek’s block on turbine plant at port won’t delay project

An offshore windfarm. Victoria’s government is reviewing Tanya Plibersek’s decision to reject its plan to create a facility at the Port of Hastings to assemble turbines. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

The boss of Australia’s most advanced offshore windfarm is confident the federal government’s rejection of a major port facility in Victoria will not delay his project delivering its first electricity by the end of this decade.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, rejected a Victorian government plan to create a facility at Port of Hastings to serve the nascent industry because of “clearly unacceptable” impacts on internationally significant wetlands.