EDF Renewables Acquires 10 GW Floating Offshore Wind Farm in Australia

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Thu, Feb 16th, 2023

Highlights :

A wholly-owned subsidiary of French utility EDF Group, EDF Renewables in Australia has announced the acquisition of the 10 GW Newcastle floating offshore wind farm located in Australia.
The project, which is currently in the works in proximity to the Port of Newcastle and energy transmission networks, is slated for the Hunter‐Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).

A wholly-owned subsidiary of French utility EDF Group, EDF Renewables in Australia has announced the acquisition of the 10 GW Newcastle floating offshore wind farm located in Australia.

The project, which is currently in the works in proximity to the Port of Newcastle and energy transmission networks, is slated for the Hunter‐Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). This is a part of the the vision of the New South Wales Government Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The plan aims to provide low cost clean energy to consumers in 2040. To enable this, it looks to unleash the potential of private sector investment in priority energy infrastructure projects.

The project in question will see phase-wise development to give an impetus to the renewable targets set by Australian government. The initial project developer Newcastle Offshore Wind Energy (NOWE) had been working on the project for a decade. Over the period of a year, the firm has been working jointly with EDF Renewables. EDF Renewables and NOWE will continue the partnership and scale-up as and when the project demands.

Chief Executive of EDF Renewables in Australia, Dave Johnson said, “NOWE, based in Newcastle, has put in a lot of effort to build up their local development expertise and connect with the community and stakeholders, which puts this project in a great position to succeed in the proposed location and especially within the local community. It is always a top priority for us to make sure the community and region benefit from our work and those benefits are clear, far‐reaching, and impactful for the entire community.” Calling it a “landmark project”, he adds, “It will be developed in collaboration with a strong local team based in Newcastle, and will require the establishment of an entirely new industry in Australia.” “I am very confident that this project will play a crucial role in providing new opportunities for employment, establishing new business and the revitalisation of existing business looking to transition from existing industries,” he concluded.

The project will bring together the global expertise of EDF Renewables in the floating offshore wind sector, and NOWE’s knowhow in assessment of local technology, along with proactive engagement with local stakeholders and the Newcastle community.

In another fresh announcement, EDF Renewables North America said that it had executed a 20-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Thermo Fisher Scientific – a leader in serving science across the globe.