Oceanex Energy CEO Andy Evans was in the city on Monday to talk to local industry about their plans for the Illawarra - which is one of five locations for an offshore wind farm.

"It's about gathering further support," Mr Evans said, "so we can present - particularly to the Commonwealth government - and say let's get moving. We've been patient but we've got a region that's ready to go and support nation-changing projects."

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For the construction of the offshore farms at Wollongong and a planned one in Newcastle, the company would require around 1.5 million tonnes of steel for platforms and wind towers.

BlueScope had already confirmed it can supply steel for those purposes, and Mr Evans said the close location of industries like steel-making was part of the appeal for Port Kembla as an offshore wind farm spot.

Mr Evans said there were targeting a 2028 start date for construction and there was the expectation that the project would create thousands of jobs.

"We're looking at up to 200 jobs throughout the development phase," he said.

"Once we commence construction we're looking at 3000 direct jobs - most of those will be local. And once we get that through that three to four year construction period, there will be about 300 permanent jobs that will be local. They need to be to service the turbines and all the land infrastructure."

Even 20 kilometres out to sea the turbines will be visible from the coast though most of the structure is underwater.

Mr Evans said an offshore wind farm was better at power generation than one on land, simply because there's more wind out over the water.

"The turbines are larger out at sea because it's a much stronger wind blowing a lot more consistently," Mr Evans said.

"You're looking at a wind that's blowing most of the time so you're not just generating in small gaps, it's blowing fairly consistently.

"We've learned over the last 10 years that afternoon sea breezes actually exist and when most people want to start using their electricity it's usually late afternoon.

"So offshore wind is really good in terms of reliability and creating electricity when the market needs it."

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