Plans for a giant offshore wind farm off the coast of Wollongong have been shifted slightly further south, as a visual simulation of what the project would look like has been released.
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Energy Estate and BlueFloat Energy propose to build a 1.6 Gigawatt floating wind farm off the coast and with 105 wind turbines stretching from waters off Kiama, south to the Beecroft Peninsula near of Jervis Bay.
The companies have spent months designing an interactive visual tool to show Illawarra residents what the operation would look like from the shore.
The turbines would be up to six deep and would start about 15.8km from shore, with the Crookhaven Lighthouse east of Nowra, and the Gerroa headland, among the closest points on land.
The visual simulation tool on BlueFloat Energy's website allows residents to see from eight positions along the coast, from Hill 60 at Port Kembla to Warrain Beach near Currarong.
Energy Estate principal Simon Currie said the southern location was chosen over a site off Port Kembla. The project had been renamed from Wollongong to the South Pacific Offshore Wind Project.
"Visual impact from different points along the coast was a factor when comparing the northern versus the southern site but only one factor," he said.
"We know that offshore wind in the region will be a major change to the seascape for all users of the ocean and we have published our visual simulations as part of our early engagement process.
"The final site has been chosen taking into account a range of factors including our understanding as to the location of competing offshore wind projects, grid connection options (with our preference to connect at the Dapto sub-station), environmental issues, water depth, shipping lanes, wind resources and existing and future uses of the port.
"Our approach is to develop an industry rather than projects and we have tried to avoid overlapping with sites chosen by other developers where that has been possible."
This is one of two wind farm projects targeting the Illawarra, the other being Oceanex.
Community information sessions will be held in December.
The first session is at the UOW Innovation Campus on December 5. Ocean Room, iC Central, 4-7pm.
The second session is at the Kiama Pavilion, 2 Bong Bong St Kiama, on December 6 from 4-7pm.
An online webinar will be on December 7, 5-6pm.
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Ben Langford
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
